


Timeless Is The Prisoner

by find_nowhere



Category: American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: Character Death Fix, F/F, F/M, Feels, Gen, Plot, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-17
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2018-03-01 09:30:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 31,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2768174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/find_nowhere/pseuds/find_nowhere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-finale! Zoe and Queenie need the help of a few of the Academy's new students to do something potentially dangerous and stupid. Cordelia's also up to something. Of course nothing goes quite as anyone planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> FINALE SPOILERS...since this takes place after the finale. Hasn't everyone watched it by now though? 
> 
> Rated T for language, dark magic, some mayhem, and feelings. Nothing too graphic...I don't think? Rating may change if I lose control of my senses. The relationships aren't the main focus and the Misty/Cordelia is mainly just implied until toward the end. Zoe and Kyle are together of course, but that's even less important to this exciting story about adventuring into Hell and stuff.
> 
> The title is a snippet of a lyric from "Beauty and the Beast," an epic, 6-minute Stevie Nicks ballad.

Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies thrived again. A deal was in the works for the school to acquire the house next door. The hallways bustled and the girls slept six to a room, which was pretty close to eight to a room like they had in the past - except Zoe and Queenie. Being members of the Witches' Council afforded them the comfort of their own rooms. Queenie loved lording over the younger girls, telling them riveting tales of the coven's most recent strife and the horrors of working at Chubbie's Chicken Shack. She also acted as a math tutor since Miss Robichaux's had become a real school with actual learning taking place - the basics right along with the witchcraft.

"Forget Queenie, you can call me Queen Bee from now on, girl," she said to Zoe, hands on her hips and brimming with confidence. And it wasn't even overcompensation, Queenie actually felt pretty damn great about herself.

"Is that, like, a Beyoncé reference or _Mean Girls_ or what?" Zoe tipped her wide-brimmed, black hat to her.

"Bitch, it's a reference to bees. Look at all my little drones and workers. Damn, pay attention."

Zoe laughed then headed for the stairs. She was on her way to help some other girls with spell casting. Queenie let out a brief cackle, waved her hand and walked on down the hall, followed by a throng of tweens that worshipped her without even any sort of mind control.

Everything seemed to be going perfectly, as perfectly as could be expected after Cordelia went public about the school, witches, and the whole shebang. The mobs of religious folk with picket signs outside eventually dwindled down to a handful and then even they found better things to do. No one even showed up with a pitchfork. No witch hunters reared their ugly heads and the new generation of eager and talented young witches kept everyone busy. Cordelia had a new-found radiance and focus. She actually acted like a proper headmistress and there was no more roaming around New Orleans at all hours of day and night, doing whatever. Instead there was homework and rules and structure, the whole deal. No one had died or even gone missing since the doors to the school were reopened. 

Not much thought seemed to be given to Misty Day. She was just another casualty of the recent coven drama and reign of Fiona Goode. If she came up at all it was in passing as "the one that failed the Descensum trial." Queenie and Zoe hadn't really known her. They hadn't particularly tried. When Misty finally sought shelter at the school she spent most of her time in the greenhouse and with Cordelia. It was the only place she found herself consistently welcome. That was why Queenie's guilt led her to the greenhouse after she dismissed her entourage.

It was late afternoon, not quite time for dinner, and Queenie had sprawled out on her bed. She was thinking mainly about the delicious smells that had been coming from the kitchen on her way upstairs. The new cook was solid. She wasn't unfamiliar with guilt. It wasn't a feeling she cared for, but it had caused her to bring burgers to the imprisoned Delphine and also not toss her severed head when told to. She'd sort of sometimes liked that racist, old bitch. She sort of sometimes liked the grubby swamp witch too. Pretty much whenever she thought about Chubbie's her mind made a couple connections and she wound up thinking about Misty and whatever endless torment she was in. Was it some sort of perpetual solitude? Maybe a world without Stevie Nicks and only death metal music? Queenie's own personal Hell was one of perpetual annoyance. She sure hated Chubbie's, but Misty didn't seem to hate much of anything or anyone. She did beat the shit out of Madison, but Madison had it coming. That incident was one of the highlights of Queenie's life for sure.

Queenie laughed when she thought about Misty kicking Madison all over the house. Madison was also a constant source of annoyance, and she wasn't missed. At least not by Queenie. Misty didn't seem to be missed either, but it wasn't the same. Misty had been nothing but kind to her and she had barely batted an eyelash when she turned to dust at the end of the Descensum trial. Cordelia lost her shit over it. Cordelia didn't even get all that upset when Zoe got her dumb ass skewered on the gate during the Transmutation trial. Maybe that was because with a body left, Zoe could be brought back. All that was left of Misty was a pile of ashes. That bitch had died and come back twice, so maybe it was just the end of her luck. Whatever. Maybe it was Cordelia that Queenie felt bad for. Cordelia didn't have anyone anymore unless you counted the houseful of witches she presided over. Zoe had Kyle and Queenie had these kids that she was helping. She made sure everyone felt included at the Academy and for the first time she knew she was doing something right. She was doing the things she wished someone had done for her. She hadn't bothered to make Misty feel included at any point. In fact, she got pissed that the hippy had been given her room when she bailed the coven to join Marie.

Her laughter subsided and turned into a heavy sigh. She mumbled, "Aw, shit. Now I feel bad."

She hauled herself up and getting to her feet made the guilt rush to her head. She felt really damn bad and all at once. Before she realized what had happened, she was almost to the greenhouse. She paused to wonder if she'd accidentally transmutated. She'd been careful with that power since the Zoe-kabab. There was a fair number of people that could bring her back in the event of such an accident, but it didn't really seem fun. Death was cold and dark and could be all kinds of shitty. She really didn't want to end up endlessly taking orders at the Chubbie's afterlife location again. Then another wave of guilt slapped her across the face. Out of all of them, Misty wasn't the one that deserved to get stuck in the netherworld. Madison, yes; Zoe, maybe. Hell, she even dared to think that she deserved to be there more than the bright and optimistic Misty Day. The dumb girl from the swamp was the closest any of them was to being a white witch. She tried to remind herself that "deserved" had nothing to do with anything.

Not entirely sure why she was there or what she intended to do, she opened the door to the greenhouse. She heard faint music tinkling from somewhere toward the back. It took her a moment, but she recognized the song. She already felt like shit, but the music was icing on the regret-cake.

"Come on. Give a girl a break," she muttered under her breathe knowing the song to be "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac. she only knew the song because of Misty. She thought for a moment that maybe the witch with all of her resurrection prowess had managed to escape being rendered non-existent. She didn't hear the sound of her bracelets jingling together though, no swishing fabric. If Stevie Nicks was singing then Misty would be twirling. Queenie would hear all of her jewelry and her boot heels clomping on the floor. But there was none of that, just the soft music playing. 

She made her way through the hot, sticky space and peaked around a great wall of foliage. Cordelia sat alone at a shadowy table, thumbing absently through a huge book with tattered, yellow pages. A number of potted plants were laid out on the table and the Supreme's face was expressionless. Queenie watched as she began to rap her fingers on the table to the beat of the song. It was slow and unenthusiastic. Queenie felt stuck there, hypnotized by the music and the Supreme completely absorbed in whatever she was reading. Despite her near limitless power she didn't even know Queenie was standing there and she began to frown as the song went on.

When Cordelia began to hum along with the end of the song, Queenie couldn't take it anymore. She needed to get out of there. She turned to go, intending to be quick about it, and her elbow of course knocked into a shelf, jiggling the potted inhabitants and causing Cordelia to stir from her trance.

"Queenie? Do you need something?" Cordelia sounded as pleasant as ever, not even startled.

Panicking at her voice, Queenie whirled back around, stumbled a bit and bumped into the plants again. A tall bromeliad started to teeter and with a glance Cordelia stabilized the whole imbalanced mess. She managed to utter only, "Uh..."

Cordelia smiled slightly and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Queenie answered and straightened out some creases in her shirt. Cordelia waited for more and she added, "I was just, uh..." There was no point in making up excuses. Cordelia could reach right into her brain and find out or make her spill every one of her thoughts with little to no effort. She held her head high, walked over to the table, pulled out the chair next to the Supreme and sat down. "Do you ever think about Misty?"

The faint smile that had graced Cordelia's lips quickly vanished. Her face returned to an expressionless neutral. She answered, rather flatly, "Every day."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Cordelia smiled again, just a little, and cocked her head to the side, "Do you? You're the one who came out here."

With a loud groan, Queenie told her everything that had been gnawing at her.

The Supreme predictably replied with, "Life isn't always fair. You know that."

"I know," she looked down at her hands in her lap and began to wring them together. "It's just been eating at me lately. I dunno why."

"Because you have a conscience."

Queenie let out a grumble that was both of assent and displeasure then said, "You liked her a lot, didn't you?"

"I did. She was..." Cordelia paused before saying, "Refreshing, I guess. After everything that happened to her she still managed to be optimistic somehow. I suppose I envied her a little. You all were a cynical bunch of little bitches - no offense."

"None taken, Supreme-y. She wasn't the smartest knife in the drawer though."

Cordelia shot her a stern glare, "She wasn't stupid. Naive, maybe, when it came to people, but she wasn't stupid. She was the only one of you that actually gave a shit about learning. This was a school, after all. It didn't seem like it. I was so distracted. Then she showed up and actually wanted to learn, you know?"

In an attempt to lighten the mood, Queenie asked, "Girl, are you sure you didn't just like her because she thought you were cool?"

The older woman's expression hardened, "She thought you were cool too. She thought all of you were, except maybe Madison after she clocked her with a brick and left her in a coffin to die then stole her Stevie shawl. Before that though, she thought Madison was cool. She just wanted all of you to like her and she wanted to impress you. None of you gave her much of a chance, did you?"

"Now I feel even more like shit. Thanks."

"You're welcome." Cordelia then turned back to the book. She shifted her elbows onto the table and rested her chin in her hands, turning a page with her mind.

As Queenie rose from her seat she considered apologizing, but she knew it wouldn't do much good. Their conversation was over and it was nearly time to head to the kitchen for dinner. There would be peach crumble for dessert and that would lift her spirits. It was hard to think about being stuck in the netherworld when there was peach crumble.

~~~

 _When the rain washes you clean, you'll know._  
"Dreams" - Fleetwood Mac


	2. Chapter 2

Zoe noted Queenie's changed demeanor at dinner. They were sitting at different tables in the dining room, but normally she would be able to hear Queenie laughing boisterously at something or another. She obviously wasn't enjoying herself. She wasn't even enjoying her dessert. She'd been fine earlier. Kyle was performing his butler duties and overseeing dinner, but he came over and put hand on Zoe's shoulder.

"Something's up with Queenie," she said and pushed her food around her plate.

Kyle said nothing, but the girl sitting across from her did. She looked over her shoulder and across the dining room and observed, "Yeah, I knew it was quieter than usual."

The dining room was still pretty noisy. More long tables had to be brought out of storage to accommodate everyone. The younger girls ate slightly earlier and then the remaining students mostly organized themselves by age groups. Kyle removed his palm from Zoe's shoulder and went to pick up plates from some recently vacated places at another table. Zoe acknowledged the girl that had spoken, Allison.

"Want me to read her mind?" Allison then offered. She was a formidable telepath that had regularly used her powers to cheat her way through school prior to coming to the Academy. She was a lanky, redhead, who at first glance looked like she would be an awkward bookworm. In reality she was immensely lazy and hated reading.

"Or I could, you know, ask her," said Zoe.

As she spoke the last word, Queenie turned toward her with a furrowed brow and angrily pursed lips. Her hands were balled into fists on the table in front of her.

Allison cleared her throat and muttered, "That might be best. She just thought, and I quote, 'Get out of my head, you skinny, ginger bitch.' I guess she meant me."

"You don't have any respect for anyone's privacy, do you?"

She shrugged and shoved another mouthful of peach crumble into her face. Allison also seemed to be a bottomless pit when it came to food, despite her stick-like appearance.

Zoe waved Queenie over. She rolled her eyes in response, but still got up. She sat down next to Allison, intentionally elbowing her at least three times in the process. The third time a bite of her dessert tumbled off of her fork on its way to her mouth and she said, "God dammit, Queen Bee. I need to eat."

"You got her to call you Queen Bee?" Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"She's just trying to stop me from putting her fork right through her neck. She got it from my head." She turned to Allison, "I'm on the Witches' Council, so don't fuck with me."

"It's all in good fun," Allison said through another mouthful of food.

Queenie rolled her eyes again and looked back at Zoe, "Whatchu want?"

"You didn't eat your peach crumble?"

"Are you keeping tabs on my eating habits?"

"You look down. What happened? Do we need to put one of these new bitches in their place?"

Queenie looked taken aback, "All of the new bitches are beautiful, wonderful people, Zoe. Except your pal, Allison. She's a cunt."

"God, I'm sitting right here," the redhead said sarcastically.

"You look like something's bothering you." Zoe tried to reel her back in.

"You look like an emo puppy half the time and I don't go around prying into your business," Queenie snapped.

Zoe put her hands up, "Damn. Nevermind. I was just trying to be a friend or something."

"Misty Day," Allison fake-coughed into her hand then got up from the table quickly to miss Queenie's retaliation.

"Bitch!" she bellowed, but Allison was already vacating the dining room. Queenie looked like she was about to get up, but instead she slouched in the chair and sighed audibly. She eyed a nearby knife on the table, but then she didn't pick it up.

"Misty? She's long gone," Zoe said, not getting it at all. She'd thought about Misty even less than Queenie over the last few weeks.

"Yeah, that's the problem."

"Huh?"

"Man, we were shitty to her."

"We weren't as shitty to her as Madison."

"Shitty is shitty," she insisted. "I know there's no bringing her back, but I..." her voice trailed off. "Ah, nevermind."

"Why's this bugging you now?"

She shook her head, "I dunno. I just got to thinking about her today and it bummed me out. Then I talked to Cordelia and damn if she's didn't make me feel even more like a big asshole. I gotta go though. I'm supposed to be going over some trigonometry with Meg."

Zoe started upstairs to her own room a few minutes later. Kyle walked her up and on the way he said, "You and Queenie were talking about Misty."

"Yeah," she said and looked over at him. He frowned and she asked, "What?"

"She was always nice to me," he said plainly. "What happened to her sucks."

"It does, but it's the past. It's done..." her voice trailed off.

Kyle took Zoe's wrists in his hands and held them gently. "She took care of me."

"Did she take care of you like Madison took care of you?" It had crossed her mind a few times that maybe Misty fiddled around with Kyle too, but she never brought it up. She didn't have a reason to and couldn't very well just work it into conversation. She didn't really want to know, she figured.

He looked confused for a brief moment before he said, "No. She was just...nice. She fed me and cleaned me, and it's pretty embarrassing to think about it now...but, you know, she was nice."

"She did do all that, didn't she?" Zoe felt a little bad then. "You need to get back to work. I'll see you later though, ok?" she said and stood on her tiptoes to quickly kiss him on the cheek. She then retreated into her room and closed the door. She knew how Queenie felt. Only Kyle could have stated it so plainly and only he could bring her to the realization - Misty Day was nice. Misty had been so excited to meet another witch when she first found Zoe. She wanted her to stay for dinner. Zoe promised she would another time and she never did. Misty's only almost-human company had been Kyle and then she took him away from her. She said she'd come back and she only did when she wanted Misty to resurrect Madison. Kyle had gone back to Misty after he ran away from his mom's house because Misty had taken care of him. She'd taken care of him like his mother should have. Zoe had found him in a fit of rage, nakedly destroying Misty's shack. She'd only been trying to clean all of the blood off of him.

Zoe leaned back against her door and wished briefly that she'd stayed for dinner with the swamp witch. She hated dwelling on the past. The past was the past and there was no chronomancy or time-travel. Misty was gone and in a very permanent way. Powers of resurgence didn't work on a pile of ashes much less Vitalum Vitalis. Zoe had gone to the dark place when she died and that dark place was infinitely preferable to the netherworld where Kyle kept breaking up with her over and over. Misty was in the netherworld suffering through who knew what.

She took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling then slid down the door to sit at its base. Her Hell was being broken up with by Kyle. Was that seriously the worst thing she could think of that could happen?

"Jesus Christ," she groaned. It seemed suddenly trivial and it resonated with her that Misty was stuck in her own miserable loop of something. There was no coming back if you got stuck in that plane. Myrtle had said as much, but Cordelia had rattled off an incantation in an attempt to save. Had she not finished the incantation or did it not work?

Misty patched up Kyle then she brought Madison back to life for her too. She helped kill the Axeman. What had Zoe done for her? Nothing. She owed her and she never even tried to pay her back. She couldn't live with herself letting Kyle be dead after talking to him once at a damn party, but she was merrily carrying on with her life with Misty trapped in the netherworld. There was no way to get her out though. It was simply impossible. Cordelia taught them all that where normal people saw a wall, witches saw a window, but she couldn't see any window. It then occurred to her that she hadn't actually looked.

~~~

 _But time makes you bolder.  
_ _Even children get older._  
"Landslide" - Fleetwood Mac


	3. Chapter 3

Every day. Cordelia thought about Misty every day. She also thought about Fiona and about Auntie Myrtle too. But Misty really drew the short straw. 

A candelabra illuminated the plethora of items laid out on the table where Queenie found her sitting earlier. There were a couple plants, jars of various substances, and a number of granite bowls with their own contents. Cordelia worked with a mortar and pestle, creating a white paste. She had turned off her music and the greenhouse was engulfed in a heavy silence. Satisfied with the poultice, she reached out and plucked a black berry from one of the plants. She dropped it into the mortar and incorporated it into the paste, turning it suddenly a bright red. She sniffed it quickly, wrinkled her nose and sat it aside to return to the book she had open at the other end of the table.

She ran her finger under the hieroglyphs as she read and she mouthed the words silently, committing them to memory. She then began mixing a fine powder in another bowl. She carefully measured each of the ingredients and then ground them down thoroughly. She continued into the night, carefully mixing different combinations and setting them aside. She made several other powders and even a liquid from juices she pressed from a number of different leaves.

She began quietly putting plants back in their places under their lights and storing jars back in cabinets. She had nine separate mortars filled with the concoctions she made and she looked them over. Rubbing her chin thoughtfully she said to herself, "Now all of these need to rest for at least a day and the liquid one needs to be cooled."

With a flick of her wrist, the music clicked back on. It opened with "Sometime's It's A Bitch" by Stevie Nicks.

"You got that right, Stevie," she said and began to hum along with the upbeat tune. She carefully moved each of her bowls into the cabinetry above her desk and put the final bowl into the refrigeration unit. She'd never been a huge Stevie fan, but she found some solace in her voice over the recent weeks. She swore to herself she wouldn't become distracted. She had a a slew of girls ranging from eight to eighteen and even a few older girls that she was responsible for. She couldn't believe how little attention she'd paid to Madison, Nan, Queenie, and Zoe. They'd vanish for days on end, they died, summoned the Axeman's spirit, put a dead boy back together, hid him in the house, and a seemingly endless list of other insane things that never should have happened under her watch. They had not only been in the same coven, but they had been her girls and she was supposed to take care of them. 

As Supreme, she couldn't afford to be distracted. Maintaining the Coven was her top priority. Fiona had bailed and let the Coven fall to ruin and as headmistress, she herself had let the school become some sort of sorcery free-for-all. That was over though. The house was first and foremost a place for gifted witches to learn to control their powers. It was a place where they could get a top-notch education that actually prepared them for the world and society. And God dammit, it was also a haven. It was a safe place for witches that found themselves ostracized and persecuted. Misty drew the short straw when she got burned alive too, and Cordelia didn't want that to happen to another young witch ever again.

Her days were spent instructing courses and overseeing the general running of the Academy. She was in the process of purchasing the neighboring house where the Ramseys had lived. Her weekends were spent tracking down other witches and taking measures to get them to Miss Robichaux's. Her evenings were hers. Sometimes. On those evenings she worked on her own projects. She still worked on her botany and her alchemy. She discovered that she possessed numerous powers that she had no idea she had. Myrtle said she could be the greatest Supreme the coven had ever seen and she was almost beginning to think she was right. 

After tidying up, she extinguished the candles, then closed her book and pushed it neatly in the center of the table. On her nearby desk there was a vaguely pear-shaped urn. It was mainly white, but it had some faint green leaves and blue flowers painted around it. She picked up and tucked the ceramic piece carefully under her arm, turned off the music and headed for the house. She looked up at the imposing building. There were a few lights on upstairs, but she knew that it was just girls studying. The was nothing amiss that night at all. There had been a few minor mishaps since the reopening, but they were incredibly mundane - boys being snuck in, some girls also pilfered a bottle of wine from the kitchen, got drunk, and the pyrokinetic among them caught some curtains on fire. 

The doors opened for Cordelia and then closed quietly behind her. Kyle was whistling and dusting the portraits of the former Supremes.

"Kyle, you can do that tomorrow. Go to bed," she said to him.

He nodded his head and gave her a closed-lipped smile. She began moving leisurely up the stairs when he unexpectedly said, "Mistress Supreme, can I ask you a question?"

"You don't need to call me that," she told him. "You can just call me Cordelia. Unless you'd like me to call you Mister Butler or something."

He nodded, cleared his throat and said, "Misty."

"That's not a question Kyle. I thought Fiona fixed you." It was late and Cordelia was in a surprisingly jovial mood after getting so much done in the greenhouse.

Kyle seemed saddened, "Queenie and Zoe mentioned her at dinner. I thought everyone forgot about her."

"That's still not a question, Kyle. I, for one, have not forgotten about Misty." What was left of Misty Day was actually currently tucked under Cordelia's arm. Kyle had swept her up off of the rug and put her into a bag. Cordelia then collected the dust and deposited it in the urn.

"Can't you go get her?" he asked suddenly.

She was on the stairs halfway up to the landing between the first and second floors. She leaned on the railing and said, "It's very, very hard and very, very dangerous. It might even be impossible. Most believe it is."

"But you're the Supreme."

"Yes," she nodded. He looked like he had more to say.

"I never told her thank you...for anything." He motioned to his neck and shoulders, where he still had scars, but they were greatly improved.

"We all know that Zoe's not so great at sewing. Go to bed now. I'll see you in the morning. Bright and early." She turned to continue up the stairs, but paused and turned back around, "One more thing, Kyle. Can you tell Spalding to stop rearranging Beth's dolls. It's really obnoxious and she keeps complaining to me every single day about it. If he feels the need to rearrange things to make his presence known then he can reorganize the books in the library."

Kyle nodded his head obediently.

Once in her bedroom. Cordelia lit a few sconces to bathe the room in warm, but dim light. She sat the urn on her dresser and patted the lid, "I think I'm finally making progress breaking through the barrier between worlds. They're all thinking about you. It's only a matter of time now...and putting your body back together. I have a plan for that this weekend though. I finally have a free weekend." She crossed the room again and folded back the blanket and sheets on her bed. She talked again to the urn, but from across the room, "I'm going to leave Zoe and Queenie in charge. They've grown up so much and I think they can handle it. All of the girls here are good." She shook her head, "Jesus Christ. I've got to stop talking to a fucking urn."

~~~

 _I search only_  
 _For something  
_ _I can't see._  
"Leather and Lace" - Stevie Nicks


	4. Chapter 4

"Girl, we gotta talk about a thing," Queenie walked up behind Zoe on the stairs and swung an arm across her shoulders, nearly knocking her down and catching her completely off-guard.

"Yeah, we should," she said, sleepily, shoving her arm off with one hand and grabbing the banister with the other. 

Queenie wondered if Zoe was talking about the same thing she was talking about or something completely different. Queenie hadn't been able to happily eat her peach crumble the night before because there probably wasn't peach crumble in Misty Day's personal Hell. That was about as unfair as things could get and it was also unfair that Queenie could no longer enjoy one of her favorite desserts. That shit just wouldn't fly. Breakfast smells were wafting from the dining room and she looked longingly in that direction, but when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she grabbed Zoe's elbow and pulled her roughly to the side. She wasn't sure she'd have much of an appetite for breakfast, but she smelled waffles. She'd eaten an awful lot of guilt-cake and it was really filling apparently, but she was pretty sure she had room for waffles. She refocused again, put her hands on Zoe's shoulders and said, "We gotta get Misty Day out of Hell or I'm gonna starve to death."

Zoe looked a little confused as well as tired and then responded, "I agree with the first part, but I'm not sure about the second."

"You do? You agree? You're in?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, bitch! That's what I'm talking about! Team spirit, sisterhood and shit!"

"Whatever," Zoe shook Queenie off and took a step back to yawn. She went on, "But yeah. You got me thinking last night then I couldn't stop and Kyle made me feel like crap, so we should at least try, right?"

"I've been reading up on the history of witchcraft for the Council and-"

"Later, Queenie. Too early now." Zoe put up her hand and cut her off. "There's waffles today, so I'm gonna go."

Kyle approached them both as Zoe turned to leave and go into the dining room. He said, "The Supreme wants to meet with you two after breakfast."

Zoe groaned and shuffled away, brushing past him. "I'm so tired."

Fully expecting Zoe to be apathetic at best, Queenie was pleasantly surprised to find her instantly willing to engage in the seemingly impossible task. She'd stayed up pretty late reading. Her extracurricular Witches' Council research turned into Descensum and netherworld research. None of it was terribly uplifting or held any sort of promise. Witches of the past had attempted to descend into Hell to retrieve sister-witches that were stuck, but it never ended well. She was sure there were other ways though - Papa Legba could help. She didn't dwell on her thoughts of him too much. She didn't really want to accidentally summon him. He was a last resort. He was one creepy son of a bitch. 

When Queenie strutted into the dining room she was swarmed by the assortment of girls that thought she was the coolest and funniest person ever, which she was pretty sure she was. She created a heaping plate of food and joined into on the banter at her table as best she could. Her appetite wasn't quite back, but Zoe agreeing to join her helped. There was too much reading for her to do alone and she was damn powerful, but she figured she'd need another damn powerful witch to conquer the netherworld. Once she took an honest stab at a rescue mission, she was sure she'd be able to eat peach crumble again and thoroughly enjoy her fluffy waffles soaked in glorious maple syrup.

After breakfast the other girls all eventually exited to head to their morning classes. The help cleaned up and Cordelia stood sipping a cup of coffee beside the grandfather clock. She watched the girls leave and motioned Zoe and Queenie into the parlor. "Kyle," she said, "Bring cups of coffee for these ladies, please."

Cordelia sat in the plush chair and the two younger witches sat on the couch. A moment later, Kyle arrived with a serving tray and handed each of them a plain white mug of hot coffee. He said nothing and arranged the cream and sugar on the table in front of them. He nodded politely and exited as Cordelia crossed her legs and continued looking classy and Supreme-like. The room was bright and the light cascaded in around her, making her look ephemeral and bonus-magical.

Queenie was sure they were in trouble for something. She was braced for a reprimand, but the reprimand didn't come. Who served coffee with a reprimand? Zoe dumped both cream and several spoonfuls of sugar into her coffee and Queenie said, "Damn girl, if you want to wake up in the morning maybe you should actually drink your coffee instead of a cup of cream and sugar. Shit!"

Zoe ignored her and looked toward Cordelia.

The blonde woman smiled and said, "I guess you could consider this the first meeting of the new Witches' Council."

"For the next meeting, we need some finger food," Queenie chuckled. "Crackers, cheese, those little cocktail wienies."

Cordelia leaned back in her chair and said, "Everything's been going pretty well, don't you think? I try to be involved with the students as much as I can, but you two are also students yourselves still so you have a different perspective."

"No one's killed anyone," Zoe said.

"Yes! I know!" Cordelia exclaimed excitedly. "It really helps for witches not to kill each other if you want to keep a coven alive."

Queenie put in her two cents, "I don't know about Little Miss Death Vagina here, but I'm having a great-ass time. I feel like some sort of magic mentor."

"Good, because you are." Cordelia  leaned forward again, "This meeting isn't all about patting you two on the back though..."

Queenie's heart sank and she was certain the reprimand was on the way. Zoe even shrank back and held her coffee cup with both hands on her lap.

"Just kidding! Oh, God. You two looked like I was about to beat you," she smirked.

"What the hell's gotten into you, woman?" snapped Queenie and Zoe just let out a sigh of relief. "My heart can't handle shit like this."

"I'm leaving you two in charge of the house on Friday night. Think you can handle it?" Cordelia came right out with the actual reason for the meeting and continued to smirk. "You know the rules, the girls know the rules, and they won't even know I'm gone, so it should be like any other Friday night, except you two will make sure everything is as it should be instead of me."

Nevermind what Cordelia actually said, Queenie read between the lines and asked, "Where you going, Miss C?"

"I do have a personal life, you know."

"Ooh, you got a date? I hope this man's not a god damn witch hunter because, for real-"

"Leave her alone, Queenie," Zoe said and smacked her on the arm.

"No, it's fine, Zoe," she said nicely then looked back at Queenie. "It's not a date, it's a project I've been working on. I'll tell you all about it when I get back."

"Aw, man. Is it plant stuff? Herbology and botany are both boring as shit."

"You like math," Zoe piped up again. "Math is boring."

"Math is fucking magical, bitch. Shut your mouth before I snap you in half."

"Ladies, are you going to kill each other if I leave you unattended for the night?"

Queenie said, "Nah."

"No," Zoe shook her head.

The meeting concluded and once Cordelia left the room, Zoe leaned over and said to Zoe, "We gotta do it Friday night while she's gone."

"Do what?"

"I don't know yet. You need to get your skinny ass in the library and divine all the books on Hell first."

"Then what? You want me to read all of them by Friday? That's two days."

"Don't we got a speed-reader in this house? It's the lamest magic power I've ever heard of, but get her to help you. She's a polyglot too or whatever, right?"

Zoe looked at her blankly for a few seconds and then there was some recognition behind her eyes, "Oh! Beth. She's weird."

"You're weird. Shut the hell up and let's get to work."

"What are you gonna do?"

Queenie glared, "Well, right now I'm gonna go to class then you're going to give me some books that are in English and I'm gonna read them, so we can get the hippy out of Hell, dammit."

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"Serious as a honey-glazed spiral ham with pineapples, bitch." 

~~~

_Stand back, stand back  
_ _In the middle of my room.  
_ _I did not hear from you._  
"Stand Back" - Stevie Nicks


	5. Chapter 5

The library was quiet. It was always quiet. No matter how much noise went on in the halls beyond, the big open room with it's shelves and shelves of books was always quiet. Maybe it was some sort of hex. That would be some major Hogwarts shit. Miss Robichaux's wasn't much like Hogwarts. There was an occasional hex here and there and Spalding's ghost had become an almost endearing mischievous spirit sort of like the House ghosts. Zoe still didn't care for Spalding and he didn't care for her either.

With the house almost full, the library returned to an archaic, honor-based check-out system for the unique collection of tomes. It was rudimentary - good, old fashioned pen and paper. Write your name, write the book, sign your name when you brought it back. Zoe liked when she could just come, get a book, and go. Zoe fully intended not to fill out the sheet because she didn't want anyone to think she was up to anything remotely suspicious. A bunch of books about Hell were bound to look suspicious. 

The whole divining process took all of a minute, if that. Zoe instantly knew that there were exactly twelve relevant books on the grounds. The one Queenie had in her room was mostly useless. It was just a history book and wasn't a spell book or anything. There was another book in the greenhouse. Someone probably grabbed it for a research paper or something and then absently left it there. She'd get it later if they needed it. The ten remaining books were all in the library and in the next moment they were all floating through the air and stacked themselves in front of her from biggest to smallest. 

She had study hall first thing after breakfast and the meeting with Cordelia had eaten up some of the time, but she could still at least sort through the books. She sat down at the table and glanced around. There were three other girls in the library. One was the girl that volunteered to work there and she was putting books away that were left sitting on tables. The other two girls were reading and had headphones on. No one even gave her a second glance. She technically wasn't doing anything wrong. It was her study hall, after all. She didn't usually spend it in the library and usually spent it following Kyle around the house as he tidied up. She wondered if he missed her. She maybe should have told him she was going to the library. She hoped he didn't miss her too much. Then she looked at the books in front of her and remembered why she was there - Misty Day.

One book was in English, a hefty book of spells from the 60s. She shoved that one aside for Queenie to sift through. The other books were of assorted ages and assorted thickness. She divided them up evenly at first then took three from her stack and plopped them down onto the stack for Beth. She wondered if Beth would even wonder what they were doing or if she would just merrily fly through the mound of books. She certainly wouldn't say no when the request came from the Witches' Council. 

She divined her way to pages in some of the books and then looked at them. What even were they trying to do exactly? Were they going to go into the netherworld? How were they supposed to get into Misty's version of Hell? Misty also got turned into a pile of dust. How were they supposed to work with that shit? She groaned and leaned forward to mash her face into the pages of one of the books. The book smelled musty, but it still had that pleasant old book smell that permeated used book stores. She wanted to take a nap, just a quick little nap. She'd barely slept the night before and it wasn't because she was having a steamy night of passion with Kyle either.

To maintain at least some sense of modesty, Kyle had his own butler's quarters upstairs in the attic. He chose to keep Spalding's creepy doll collection, probably because ghost-Spalding insisted. Most of the girls, except maybe the most oblivious, knew full-well that Zoe was dating the butler. They also knew that he was a reanimated human made of assorted boy parts. Kyle would finish up his butler duties at night, change out of his work clothes and then quietly enter Zoe's room. He would then quietly depart early in the morning before any of the other girls stirred. Zoe was sure that Cordelia knew this, but she didn't seem to care as long as they were subtle about it.

Each night, Zoe would wait up for Kyle and the night before was no exception. They would usually talk for a bit and then drift off to sleep together. Or not. Kyle crawled into her bed the night before and draped an arm over her and said, "I thought you maybe forgot about Misty."

She had just managed to forget about her and Kyle came in and brought her up again. "I didn't forget her," she said quietly, although she sort of had. She had sort of forgotten her when she wasn't stuck in the netherworld, in fact. She added, "I just didn't want to remember her."

"Why?"

"Queenie was right. We were shitty to her."

"She didn't seem to mind. She still liked you, I think."

Zoe rolled onto her stomach and shoved her face into her pillow to muffle what would have been a very loud groan. She followed it with, "I know. That's the problem. God."

"Are you mad at me?" Kyle asked.

"No," she said, still talking into the pillow.

"Are you mad at Misty?"

"No. I just want to sleep," she told him.

But that didn't work out at all and she couldn't sleep. Kyle snored lightly next to her after just a few minutes and she rolled all around in the small bed. She moved his arm off of her and then pulled it back across her. She tried to sleeping on either side and on her back. She walked around. She got some water. But nothing. No sleep. She had dozed off just before the alarm went sounded to wake Kyle up. She usually went right back to sleep afterward, but that morning she couldn't. All of her encounters with Misty Day just kept playing over and over in her head. It was very Hell-like and was nearly as awful as being broken up with by Kyle again and again. When it was time for her to wake up and head down to the dining room for breakfast, she had concluded that it was at least as awful as being broken up with again and again. 

She felt haunted and damn if Misty haunting her wasn't both the most annoying and the most miserable thing ever. So she forced herself up onto her elbows and she looked at the pages of the book instead of shoving her face into it. She couldn't read by osmosis through her forehead. She didn't really know where to start though. Maybe she should have talked a bit more to Queenie. She was so tired that she couldn't think. If they didn't at least try to get Misty back then she was afraid she'd never sleep again. She would slowly go insane. She'd have hallucinations, probably kill some people, and then she would have to off herself.

"Zoe, where are you?" Queenie bellowed from the doors leading into the library.

"I'm sitting right here. Why don't you look around before you start shouting?"

Queenie walked over and a mousy girl followed. She was a short, frumpy brunette and with big, out-of-fashion glasses that made her eyes look about ten times bigger than they were. She looked twelve-years-old, but she was actually seventeen and she had a creepy doll collection that wasn't as extensive as Spalding's, which she kept in her room. Beth was gifted with speed-reading and could also read and understand every language that existed or ever existed. Zoe thought it was sort of neat, if someone was a total nerd.

"I debriefed her," Queenie told Zoe.

"These for me?" Beth asked in her nasally voice and pointed to the hefty stack.

She nodded and shoved Queenie's book toward her, "That one's yours. Now...could you tell me if our plan has any sort of foundation. What exactly am I looking for?"

"I was thinking that you could give Misty a body like you did the Axeman, then we just gotta go get her soul, you know? Contact and release, only I don't think we can get her with a spirit board. So I guess we sort of want to release then contact and soul transfer or something, am I right?"

Beth was already reading the first book while she stood there next to Zoe at the table. She had already flipped through at least the first twenty pages in a whirlwind.

"The Axeman's soul was trapped in this house. He was sentient. Misty is...somewhere else entirely. I just...I don't know if-"

"You are one negative God damn Nancy, Death Vagina."

Zoe hated when Queenie called her that and flopped her head down onto the book again. She said, "Look, I need to get to my class. You two want to meet up at the end of the day?"

Beth nodded, closed the book, and picked up the entire stack in her puny arms. She then waddled out of the library with them as they tottered back and forth precariously. Queenie still towered over Zoe. She put her hands on her hips and glowered. At that second Zoe was more interested in how Beth managed to carry all of the books and not drop a single one.

Queenie stomped her foot and got her attention again. She shifted her eyes toward her to say, "Look, I think I know what you're saying we need to do, but I am so damn tired."

"Get it together. Rescue missions are serious business."

~~~

_Would you swallow all your pride?  
_ _Could you speak a little louder?_  
"Sara" - Stevie Nicks


	6. Chapter 6

That evening Cordelia pulled out all of her concoctions from the night before and spread them out onto the table. She lit the candelabra and opened the book of hieroglyphs. The urn sat on her desk and some of Stevie Nicks' greatest hits played softly in the background.

"Maybe I should've told the girls what I was doing," she wondered aloud as she plucked a leaf from a nearby herb on a shelf. She dropped it into one of the mortars and began to grind it into the existing mixture with a fresh pestle. "I could have made them do some of this legwork."

She returned to the book, carefully reading the page for a few minutes and then summoned two of the little granite bowls closer to her. She raised her hand and one of the cabinets opened then a small measuring spoon flew out and into her grasp. She scooped out a spoonful of the powder and used her index finger to push off the excess. She then took that powder and dropped it into the second bowl, containing a poultice. The new mix began to steam as it heated.

Cordelia sat the bowl down and watched the steam rise fluidly from the goo. She said in a resigned voice, "This is my fault though. I wanted you to be the Supreme. I was blind in more ways than one and look what happened? I'm talking to an urn and secretly concocting a potion in the greenhouse to physically enter the afterlife." She looked down at the book, "This is the most ridiculous potion I've ever seen. This Ancient Egyptian magic is some wild shit. The number of ingredients, the combinations...I hope it doesn't kill me. That would be something, wouldn't it? I'm sure it'll taste like dog shit wrapped in licorice and rotting chicken, but whatever."

She continued her mixing until she was down to four bowls, which needed to sit again for a day. She put them away then walked leisurely around the greenhouse and checked on some of the plants to see if they needed to be watered. She carried a watering can with her and stuck her finger into the soil of each pot, watering accordingly. She hummed along with "Edge of Seventeen" until the song ended and she finished with her plants. She picked up the urn and after leaving the greenhouse she looked over the looming house. She knew that all was well inside. She just knew. She also knew that Queenie, Zoe and Beth were all in the library together. What Queenie and Zoe were doing with Beth, she didn't know. She could find out, but she didn't want to intrude. It couldn't possibly be anything nefarious. It wasn't like they were going to summon demons or anything. Beth probably just wanted help with something that she didn't actually need help with. She was awfully needy sometimes.

The house was quiet when she entered and there was no sign of Kyle nor either of the maids. She went straight to her room and engaged in her nightly routine. Once ready for bed she crawled under the blankets. She moved to the center of the bed, piled the pillows and reached for the trashy romance novel on her nightstand. She wasn't sure why she was reading it. It was really garbage. It seemed to be an adequate way to wind down at the end of the day though. Even after the longest days, she sometimes couldn't get her mind to slow down enough to go to sleep. Trashy romance novels were exhausting to read and seemed to do the trick, but every night when she picked up her latest read she wondered why she was reading it.

This particular night though, the novel seemed to lose its potency. She'd nearly completed her potion. Drinking it would apparently open a door into the netherworld. She wouldn't have to engage in Descensum to get there. She wouldn't be projecting her mind and soul there, she would be going there. It was an old, forgotten magic, but it allowed the user to visit different versions of the afterlife, different Hells. That was exactly what she needed to do to track down Misty. The spirit world seemed to be aware of how close she was getting and invisible things seemed to be buzzing around her. They were lively and excited things, ghosts, wisps, imps. They chattered among themselves in some primordial tongue. They were ready to open the door for her, for the Supreme. It had been thousands of years since they opened the door and someone passed through it.

There wouldn't be any door opening or trekking into the afterlife though if Cordelia couldn't bring Misty's body back. She hadn't technically died. Her soul was trapped and then she ceased to exist. It was apples to oranges, but they were both fruit and the end result was basically the same. She had a plan for that too though and it was taking place on Friday. She'd been preparing all of this for weeks and she too was excited. She closed her book and sat it back in its place on the nightstand and she suddenly felt sad again. The sadness came and went. She'd been privately miserable for the first few weeks after she rose to power. She was horrified of becoming senselessly fixated on Misty like she'd been fixated on having a baby with Hank, so she was acutely aware of her feelings at all times. During the day, she would slap on a bright smile and carry on. She had a lot to do and she actually did it, but then she would retreat to her room for the evening. Once there, she would spend hours each night going over the Descensum trial and how it could have ended differently.

She'd waited too long to attempt the reversal spell. She hadn't finished it. She'd wanted so badly for Misty to be the Supreme and thought she would come back on her own, then she'd still be in the running. So she waited. She waited and held onto her body, clutching her there on the rug. Her body wasn't even a lifeless, it was anything but. It was like she was just in a deep sleep. She was still warm and she could feel her pulse. Cordelia had been blind, but she knew Misty was very much alive up until the very last second. Then all at once she was nothing and had become dust seeping through her fingers.

Myrtle said there was nothing anyone could do, that Misty had to come back on her own, but it wasn't true. There was a reversal spell. It was seldom used. It was horrible and painful. When someone was stuck in the netherworld it could be used to force their soul back into their body. The process apparently felt like your soul was being ripped in two and this was completely incomprehensible pain that only those that experienced it could understand. Sometimes those witches forced back into their living bodies were never quite the same again. They never had a proper understanding of reality because perhaps a bit of them remained lodged in the afterlife. Getting stuck in Descencum was the result of forgetting that the afterlife wasn't real. It would become real though and eternal.

Cordelia melted down onto her pillows and folded her arms over her eyes. It was her fault. She had wanted Misty to be Supreme. She thought Misty deserved to be Supreme. She deserved so much more than she received and certainly didn't deserve any sort of perpetual torment of any kind. "Why couldn't you just have failed the telekinesis trial?" she asked, angrily. "Then you could have just sat the fuck down on the couch and eaten some carrot sticks or something while everyone else kept going and I figured out that I was actually the Supreme." She wasn't actually angry though and her tone changed completely with the next thing she said. "You didn't even know you had telekinesis. You'd never even tried it before...then I encouraged you. 'Intention,' I'd said. Jesus Christ. You didn't even really want to be Supreme at all. You told me I was a great leader. You saw in me what I couldn't even see and for what? So I could urge you to be something you never were? And no one even cared when you were gone..."

She remembered again the mere second it took for Misty's body to go from alive to ash. She remembered how she grasped for something that was no longer there. Her hands found only empty air and fine dust. The transition was too fast, too anti-climactic. Again, Misty deserved better. All Cordelia could do was scream. She had to scream to fill the silence and the emptiness that shouldn't have been there. Myrtle thought Misty was the Supreme, but Cordelia made her want it, and the moment that Misty went from something to noting in her arms was a moment of painful clarity. If she had just started the incantation sooner. If she hadn't been so stupid from the beginning. She was blind, but she saw the world become just a little darker. No one else noticed because they were all so used to the darkness.

Misty Day had met her end in the same way T.S. Eliot said the world would end...

Not with a bang, but a whimper.

~~~

 _You know I'd rather be alone  
_ _Than be without you._  
"Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You" - Stevie Nicks


	7. Chapter 7

"Every spell where you summon anything from Hell requires five people and blood," Beth pointed out. "This seems to be all about demons though."

"There's only two of us..." Zoe moaned. She folded her arms and rested her head on them on the table.

"Three," Beth said, reminding her that she existed although she'd just spoken seconds before.

Queenie barely heard the other two talking. She was in deep thought and reading about all of the failed attempts of witches to save their sister-witches from Descensum attempts gone awry. She didn't want them to try something that had already been tried and failed. That would be a total waste of time. They needed a new approach. The library was deserted aside from the three of them. She was sort of glad the other two were talking just to have some background noise.

"You want to actually help?" Zoe asked Beth, sounding completely baffled. "You don't just want to read books? You want to cast the spells?"

"Yeah. Sure. I'm not as boring as everyone thinks, just because I have different powers and an extensive doll collection."

"Do you even want to help if we have to do blood magic?"

"That's the reason I want to help."

This caused Queenie to actually tune back in properly. She looked across the table at Beth and said, " _You_ want to do blood magic?  _Want_? Is that what you just said? Did I hear that shit right or did my ears deceive me?" _  
_

"What's wrong with wanting to do a little blood magic?"

"Damn, you are weird. Blood magic is some gross stuff," she told her.

"Yeah. I read pretty much everything about it before you read ten pages of your book," snapped Beth. She pursed her lips and made a valiant attempt to be intimidating, but the effect was completely lost on Queenie.

"You're mouthy too. I thought you were shy."

Zoe looked from one to the other as their banter continued. Her eyes were bloodshot and dark, tired bags were starting to form under them.

Beth went on, "I thought that by coming here I'd get to experience different types of magic. That includes blood magic. It isn't like it's forbidden or anything. It's one of the most powerful forms of spell-casting."

"Relax, little, frizzy-haired witch. You just don't seem like someone that would be into gross shit. You might get blood spatter on your spectacles."

"So I'll have a micro-fiber cloth on hand."

Queenie banged a fist down onto the table and this jarred Zoe from dozing off. She bolted upright and looked around confusedly. This made both she and Beth laugh a little. Beth's laughter was like her voice, high-pitched and nasal. It shattered the quiet of the library in a way their voices had not. The books seemed to tremble on the highest shelves. Zoe regained her senses and said, "We still need two more people."

"Meg," Queenie tossed out quickly.

"Is that the girl that's really bad at math or the girl that's really good at math?" Zoe looked at her with her eyes only half-open.

"Really good. She's also the girl that caught the curtains on fire the first week she was here."

"Oh. The one that stole the wine, you mean," Zoe said, remembering. "How about Allison then?"

Queenie sighed, "Fine. She can't go blabbing about what we're doing though."

"We don't even know what exactly we're doing," said Beth. "I've found a couple of promising spells, but nothing concrete. They all need a lot of supplies too."

"I found a few too, I think. They're similar to how I released the Axeman, like you said Queenie," Zoe yawned widely. "None of them are ideal, but I think I can create a spell that should give Misty her body back and we could combine it with one of these Hell spells of Beth's."

Beth's brow furrowed, "Create a spell?"

"Yeah?" the other girl said with a hint of confusion. "How do you think spells exist? Someone had to make them up."

"Girl, did you think every spell existed since time immemorial?" Queenie joined in again.

"Well, yes. I thought the deities shared their sacred knowledge with a select few special people and-"

"Shut up and get back to reading," Zoe rolled her eyes then rubbed them with the balls of her hands before she looked back down at the book she was currently flipping through.

All three girls had marked a number of pages in their books and Queenie started thinking about Papa Legba again. She looked up and said, "Hey, Bookworm. Steer clear of any spells that have anything to do with straight up voodoo if you can. I did some blood magic voodoo shit with Marie Laveau and I don't want to get involved with those particular deities again. They always want something in return, usually your soul."

She nodded and then Zoe looked up from her book, "You know...the resurrection spell that Madison found that we used to bring Kyle back to life said something about us marrying the Devil."

"Cool story, bro," a voice said from the door.

All three of them turned from the table to see the tall red-head leaning on the door frame. She was in her pajamas with her arms crossed.

"Fuck, we summoned her," Queenie mumbled. "I'd almost prefer to have summoned Papa Legba right now."

"You all wanted me?" Allison questioned and entered the room. "I was sleeping and then...bam! I knew I was needed and here I am." She headed for the table and put her hands into the pockets of her sweatpants, "It looks like you're doing major nerd shit, which I'm really not interested in."

"You may as well sit down," Zoe told her.

After the three of them filled her in she said, "The first thing I learned in Witchery 101 was that if you get stuck in Descensum, you're stuck forever."

"Well, Cordelia said an incantation and I think I found it here," Zoe pointed to a very worn and faded page of a small book. The spell was written in Latin. "She didn't finish it. She only got out the first bit. 'Venite ad me, sequere lucem.' There's eight more lines. Why haven't we ever heard about this?"

"What's the spell called?" Queenie asked. It sounded familiar. She knew Cordelia had said that first part, but she thought she may have also run into it in her recent reading.

"Uh...Ascensum."

"Oh! Oh!" Queenie exclaimed, "Yeah, I ran into that just a few minutes ago. It's extremely unpleasant and doesn't always work right, like, even if Cordelia had pulled it off Misty may have been real fucked up when she came back. She was kinda weird already..."

This rendered all four of them silent for some time. Beth looked back down at one of her books, but she didn't turn even one page, so she obviously wasn't reading. Zoe was half-asleep, but she seemed to drift off in thought. Allison looked down at the table. She didn't have a book, and for once she didn't seem to have anything to say. Queenie processed and a wave of guilt came again. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed the back of her neck, gazing up at the book shelves that extended up to the high ceiling.

Allison broke the silence and said, "So our illustrious Mistress Supreme Cordelia was willing to risk this girl's sanity in order to keep her in the running?"

"Hell ain't fun," Queenie said quickly. "It's a damn nightmare."

"And it wouldn't have kept her in the running," Zoe muttered. "In order to stay in the running Misty would have had to bring herself back. Did they not cover the Seven Wonders in Witchery 101?"

"So Cordelia was just trying to bring her back to bring her back?" Allison questioned.

"Why's that so damn perplexing? Don't any of us have any damn friends or anything? I hate your fucking guts, but not enough to leave you stuck in Hell, you ginger bitch."

"Simmer down there, Queenie," Zoe said, calmly.

Allison grimaced, "I didn't mean it like that. Jesus. Cordelia just seems so put together is all. I can't imagine her losing it and even trying some ultra-unpleasant spell, that's all. I'm totally in. I'm down for some excitement in this drab boarding house. I was expecting to do some dueling with wands and that hasn't happened yet, so pulling some stranger out of the netherworld is going to have to do."

"I think we're all tired," Beth observed. "I feel a lot of tension here."

"Shut up, Beth," Zoe grumbled and slapped a post-it note down onto the pages of each of her open books. The books all then slammed shut and she said, "Goodnight, witches." She walked quickly out of the library and the books floated in the air behind her, following obediently. She called back from the door before it slammed shut, "Talk to Meg, Queenie. She was your pick."

"I heard she was the nice one," Beth whispered.

~~~

_Don't you know that the stars are  
_ _A part of us?_  
"Bella Donna" - Stevie Nicks


	8. Chapter 8

Zoe went down to the kitchen to get some of the supplies needed for the ritual that they were about to perform in Queenie's room. She was surprised by how many supplies used in blood magic could be found in any typical kitchen. Obviously the kitchen was where you found knives, but this particular blood magic spell also demanded salt, sage, rosemary, thyme, raw chicken...and potato chips. When she got to the potato chips on the list, she realized that perhaps these supplies were not all for the ritual, but were more likely for Queenie's midnight snack, presumably after they finished. She had a hot plate in her room, which she was probably going to cook the chicken on. Regardless, she took all of the requested items scribbled on the sheet of paper back upstairs, along with two bowls.

Meg was bringing candles and was already in Queenie's room when Zoe got back. Meg also brought a tarot deck and a bottle of vodka, which were not required for anything they were doing. Meg was a dark-skinned, ethnically ambiguous sort of girl. She was pretty generic really and looked like someone that would be on a tampon commercial. Zoe acknowledged her as being not particularly bland and not particularly glamorous. The only reason anyone at the Academy knew who she was is because she torched those curtains. She sat cross-legged on the wood floor with a tarot spread in front of her and the bottle of vodka in her hand by its neck. Zoe didn't really know her that well, but she was apparently pals with Queenie.  

"Ok, Queen Bee," Zoe said to humor her. "How much of this is actually for the ritual?"

"Everything except those chips. Give them here. I can't be casting spells on an empty stomach."

"We just had dinner..." Meg said. Her tone was extremely cheerful.

"I couldn't eat. Too nervous about casting spells." She snatched the bag away from Zoe, "Ripple chips. Hell yeah, bitch."

Beth was rounding up charcoal from the art supplies downstairs. Before she left the room she firmly asserted that charcoal from a grill simply wouldn't do. Kyle had been given instructions to keep everyone else away from that part of the hall and he'd also been instructed to check in on them if he heard any exceptionally weird noises or if they never came out.

"Zoe, you're back," Beth said when she returned with two handfuls of charcoal pencils. "I forgot the most important thing. We need something of Misty's."

"Uh, do you think I have something of hers? Because I don't."

"No, dipshit. She wants you to divine Misty's stuff," Meg said, still with surprising pleasantness. Zoe didn't even take offense.

Queenie looked sternly down at her pick, sitting on the floor, "Put that vodka away until we're done, Meg. I don't want you catching my bed on fire or any of my valuable possessions."

Meg stuck out her bottom lip and picked up her tarot cards instead. She put them into her messenger bag and took another sip of the vodka, unfazed.

"Alright, you catch anything of mine on fire and we're through."

"Did you just threaten her with no more math?" Zoe asked and laughed.

"You, get divining," Queenie told her and got around to opening the chips. She offered the bag to Meg then Beth. The latter declined. She then offered the bag out to Zoe and said, "Your annoying clairvoyant is late. She better show up."

"She'll be here," Zoe said, referring to Allison. Then she got down to divining anything that belonged to Misty. Misty brought almost nothing with her when she showed up at the house with Myrtle. She hadn't even had very much in her little bayou shack as far as possessions went. The clothes she was wearing and even her bracelets and rings all turned to dust at the same time that she did. She concentrated harder and tried to see something, anything, belonging to Misty Day in her own mind's eye.

Queenie interrupted, "What the hell happened to her? Her ashes, I mean. The Misty Day dust pile."

"It's not here," Zoe said quickly then motioned for silence. When she was divining she didn't necessarily need stones or tea leaves. She just saw what she needed to see and knew where it was. It was sort of a gut feeling with more exact details. When Queenie spoke it totally shut down the vision she was getting. It was like losing reception on an old TV. A few seconds later she saw what she needed to see though, "Her things are all in, uh, Cordelia's room. They're in a box in her closet. Back left corner."

Meg started to ask the question on everyone's mind, "How are we supposed to-"

"Right here, my sister-witches!" Allison appeared, bouncing on Queenie's bed. Queenie's mouth fell open. "Who knew I could also do transmutation?" she asked, but no one answered. Between her first two fingers she dangled a black feather tied to some string with a couple other little embellishments. She said, "I'm not sure what this is, but it was in the box in Cordelia's closet in the back left corner. It looked sort of cool and it was on top, so I grabbed it."

"That'll work, now get your funky feet off my God damn bed."

"Let's start setting up. We don't have all night." Zoe massaged her temples and felt as if Allison was now intentionally trying to get Queenie riled up.

The girls spent a moment rearranging Queenie's furniture. They created a large open space on the floor and Beth began forcefully drawing a large pentagram with her black charcoal pencils. Queenie mumbled something about hoping that shit would come off of her floor. Meg closed her vodka and sat it aside then set up ten candles around the pentagram as instructed by Beth. Queenie kept the bag of potato chips under one arm and made a circle of dried sage around the pentagram followed by a circle of salt. Beth directed Zoe to drop the raw chicken, rosemary and thyme, and a bowl of water in different sections of the pentagram. Meg put a final candle at the remaining fourth point. It was different from the other candles, short and fat, black wax. It looked almost oily. The fifth point of the star remained empty.

"Blood," Beth said, looking over the large, sprawling creation on the floor. "We need to go over the charcoal with our blood." She looked toward Allison who had taken a seat on the end of Queenie's bed and sat fiddling with Misty's hair accessory while everyone else did things. "Put the feather in the center, Allison."

She did so and then said, "So we've got Fire, Water, Nothing, Chicken, and Delicious Seasonings. Are those the Five Elements? Because that looks like the ingredients for some chicken soup to me."

"Dude, cooking is just super-basic witchcraft," Meg said. This made both of them snicker.

"Focus. This is serious," Queenie said, actually sounding serious. She may have been more convincing without the bag of chips in her hand. Regardless, they all gathered around the bowl with the sharpest knife that Zoe could find in the kitchen.

"How much blood do we need for this exactly?" asked Meg with interest.

"Enough to paint over the pentagram," Beth answered her, annoyed.

Allison asked sarcastically, "We can't water it down? Isn't that what the bowl of water is for?"

"We can if you want to do some watered down blood magic," snapped Beth.

Queenie tried to stifle a laugh then and Zoe got started. She grabbed the blade of the knife in her palm then yanked quickly with her other hand. She squeezed her hand over the bowl and let her blood drip from her fist. It didn't hurt. She knew it would hurt once she opened her hand and looked at the damage she inflicted. She passed the knife to her right and kept her hand over the bowl, but shifted it over toward Queenie. She popped a large chip into her mouth and performed the same action as Zoe while she chowed down. Her blood started to flow just as Zoe's seemed to be wrapping up. The procedure continued around until the knife and bowl reached Meg. She turned the knife over in her hand and few times and looked at the blood already adorning the blade. She visibly held her breath and then she sharply sucked in even more when she drew the blade through her closed hand. She went too slowly, Zoe knew it.

"Fuck. Shit. Are the rest of you made of...of...unfeeling...stone, rock, something...without feeling?! Christ!" Her voice got louder and louder as she continued to babble. She still held her hand over the bowl, but her face paled and she clenched her jaw. 

Zoe wanted to laugh at her, but kept herself in check. Queenie did not keep herself in check. She still had her palm balled tightly into a fist. She'd have to open it eventually. Queenie continued to noisily eat potato chips next to her, which helped with the quiet. Meg, foolishly again, opened her hand and looked at it right away. Her eyes widened and without warning her hand was engulfed in a flame. Everyone jumped back with a gasp and she let out a sinister laugh.

The flame diminished leaving only a tiny wisp of smoke. Her hand wasn't burned, except the gnarly gash, which was now closed nicely and already clotting.

"Show off," Queenie muttered.

"Did she just burn that shut?" Allison asked no one in particular. No one answered her. Beth passed around bandages and also drew a paintbrush from her bag. She got started painting the blood over her thick, black charcoal marks. She was careful not to disturb the circles of salt and sage. Soon the task was done.

Beth turned out the overhead light and room became dark. The full moon peaked through Queenie's open curtains, making seeing pretty easy. Meg waved her hand and the ten candles around the pentagram lit. 

"Take your places," Beth spoke cryptically. They hadn't discussed places. Meg sat at the point with the candle without hesitation, Beth then went with the herbs, Queenie with the dish of water. Allison and Zoe remained. Zoe sat with the raw chicken breast because it was closest and that left Allison with the empty space. Zoe extended her hands to either side and her neighboring sister-witches took them. They closed the circle. Meg lit her candle.

Beth began the incantation they had all practiced and the rest of them joined in, their voices growing stronger with each syllable. The spell was one that she and Zoe worked on together for this one occasion.

"Spiritus inferni, die qua invocavaremus te. Nos vocare elementorum: terra, ignis, aer, aqua, vita. Isque nos sanguinem nostrum. Nos quaerere album spiritus. Liberum spiritus que de tenebris."

~~~

_It's just the ghost of what you want to be,  
_ _And the ghost of the past that you live in._  
"Ghosts" - Stevie Nicks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used Google Translate for the Latin. This is particularly shameful because I took many semesters of Latin. Forgive me.


	9. Chapter 9

After bidding a quick goodbye to Zoe and Queenie, Cordelia picked up the urn that she often carried with her casually. No one ever asked her about it because they would immediately forget they saw it. She tucked it under her arm as she often did and she made sure to deposit the small vial containing her potion into her purse. The vial was closed tightly with a cork stopper and it contained a strangely translucent, orange substance. It appeared to be a liquid, but it sloshed around too slowly in its container. She had put on a pair of dark jeans and boots suitable for the outdoors. She wore one of her typical button-down blouses and then topped it all off with a black velvety cloak, draped across her shoulders. The air outside was muggy and sticky, but there was a cool breeze that made it not at all unpleasant.

Once outside of the gates leading onto the property she glanced back at the house. Many lights were on, but it was quiet. Some odd things still went on in the house. She knew about the baby in the attic that Spalding's ghost was caring for. Kyle was helping him. She also knew that Madison was buried in the back and that Kyle killed her. Her ghost had yet to make an appearance. She likely couldn't harness enough power to manifest because she was too busy being pissed off. It was still quiet. It was almost too quiet, but she had something to do. Miss Robichaux's surely wouldn't collapse if she were gone for a night. She pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head and then vanished.

She reappeared miles away, far from civilization, and far from the supposedly-civilized city of New Orleans. She was first struck by the plethora of sounds that engulfed her. Crickets, frogs, and toads all chirped in harmony. Fish splashed in the shallows and crayfish scuttled in the mud at at the water's edge. The wind whispered faintly through the leaves and the grasses. Next, the smells came rushing at her. It smelled somehow dirty and clean all at once. She smelled dirt and mud, wildflowers, and herbs. It smelled dirty in a natural way with no trace of car exhaust or burning. It just smelled of nature, which was in a constant state of flux between life and death. It didn't take long for her eyes to adjust thanks to the full moon and clear sky. The stars shone brightly and she found herself also surrounded by fireflies, lighting up here and there like little stars themselves.

Though she'd never been to this place, she knew how to get there. She just knew. She knew in the same way that she knew other things. It was the Sight and just the sheer power that came with being the Supreme. Despite all of this magic coursing through her, she felt a knot forming in her throat as she looked upon the little shack that sat in the small clearing in front of her. The grass had grown up and the array of plants Misty kept had become unruly. Some pots were toppled and the plants were outgrowing them, reaching for the soil of the ground. Her gardens were completely overgrown and the door leading inside of the hovel was ajar.

She'd left in a hurry and Cordelia knew why - Hank. Hank had shown up to kill her. Myrtle pulled herself up from the dirt and warned her then they fled together to the only place either of them knew to go. Cordelia promised to protect her and she failed. She pushed the thought from her mind with urgency and choked back the knot as she approached the door. Inside, things were only a little askew. The windows allowed lots of natural light to enter, but there was also a lamp. Cordelia lit it effortlessly and then found herself poking around Misty's things. She just wanted to touch everything the swamp witch had touched.

Her small bed had a hell of a bullet hole in it. Shotgun, she knew. She sat her purse and the urn down then straightened out the blankets. This place was completely the opposite of everything she'd grown up with. Fiona was extravagant and even Myrtle had an ample fondness for excess. She'd grown up with the finest of everything and here she was finding herself admiring the stark simplicity. Misty cooked over a damn fire and apparently cleaned herself in a big metal wash bin. The only remotely modern thing she seemed to have was a broken, decades-old tape player.

Cordelia practically collapsed when she sat on the bed. It creaked and she buried her face in her hands to get a grip on herself before she broke down. An owl screeched mournfully from somewhere nearby and reminded her of what she came to do. She got up and went to the wooden table across the room. It looked perfectly suited to her needs. She shook the hood down and let her blonde hair cascade out over her shoulders as she moved for the urn and got the vial from her purse. Once the two items were on the table, she removed the lids of each. She reached carefully down into the urn and took a pinch of the dust. She dropped it into the little jar then replaced the lid. She looked at the mixture for a while, as if expecting it to make another dramatic change. The potion had gone through a number of changes over many weeks and here was the end result. The creatures outside grew quiet, like they were all waiting for something as well. She began to feel a little uneasy and closely watched.

She replaced the lid on the urn, put the vial in one of the many pockets of her cloak and walked back outside, forcing herself to overcome her unease. When she stepped out, the wind grabbed at her clothing causing her to pause. The very air seemed to be urging her toward the water just a short walk away. She took a moment to take in her surroundings again. An owl let out another doleful noise and she again carried on. She walked through tall grass and even taller reeds and cattails. The plants brushed politely against her legs. Kneeling down with the urn at the edge of the water, she let out a ragged sigh. Nature around her seemed to grow excited again and the noises of bugs and frogs seemed to thunder around her in a cacophony. The owl cried out more shrilly and she noticed other sounds she hadn't heard before, birds and even tiny rodents. Everything was so alive and she thought they were all calling to her - the Supreme - but she quickly realized they weren't calling for her at all. She held her breath as she tipped the gray dust into the water. The water was mostly still and it sat on top at first, almost sparkling in the moonlight, before it sank and dispersed. She remained crouched there in the reeds with her eyes closed for several minutes. She wrapped her arms around the urn, holding it to her chest. Her cloak dragged in the mud and she didn't care.

Her lips moved quickly as she uttered a quick incantation. She was afraid her voice would disturb something there and somehow mess up the natural magic in the murky water. She hoped her own immeasurable power and the power of this place would be enough to make the ash back into a body.

The place where Misty Day settled was a place of strong magic indeed. She felt it under her feet and vibrating in her bones. When she opened her eyes she was startled to find herself flashing fireflies and a conglomeration of moths circling her. They swirled around, fluttering their wings against her skin as if she were some sort of light that they were drawn to. She heard a noise to her right, rustling foliage, a snapping twig. She turned quickly and saw a speckled fawn looking at her from the trees. Cordelia regretted holding onto Misty's ashes for so long. It was partially out of preparatory measures and partially out of grief. She felt hundreds of eyes on her. Creatures watched her from all around, most of which she couldn't even see. It was eerie at first, but it was like they knew Misty was back somehow, that she was coming back. It become comforting and she knew there was no danger. She sat the urn aside in the reeds, not needing it anymore.

A bit of warmth began to radiate at her side, from the pocket where she placed the vial. She looked down and saw white light leaking through the seams and shining from the opening. She squinted and shielded her eyes from the freakish brightness of the substance in the small glass container. It had undergone it's final transformation. It was warm to the touch, not hot, and she couldn't tell what exactly it looked like anymore because it was glowing so intensely she couldn't look directly at it. She tucked it away again.

As she got to her feet, she said quietly, "If this doesn't work...at least you're where I think you'd want to be."

~~~

_And the summer became the fall._  
 _I was not ready for the winter._  
"Nightbird" - Stevie Nicks


	10. Chapter 10

All of the curtains covering the windows in Queenie's room snapped shut and the candles around the pentagram were snuffed out one by one until only the one within the point of the star remained and the flame turned a menacing black. Darkness engulfed them, but they didn't break their circle. They kept their sweaty and cut hands tightly clasped and their eyes were all drawn to the feather in the center. It began to pulse with a faint light and then it slowly rose above the floor, tottering in the air, wavering before finding its equilibrium and freezing in place.

"Oh, shit," one of the girls said in a croaking voice. A murmur of agreement passed through all of them.

The feather suddenly lost it buoyancy and became sucked down back toward the floor. It should have drifted down leisurely, swaying, as feathers tend to do, but instead it dropped like a stone. When it hit the wood floor there was a deafening cracking noise like lightning struck between them. The floor opened up into a gaping pit. The pit swallowed up the pentagram and all of their donations or contributions or whatever they were. The floor sloped downward beginning at the circle of sage and it plummeted into absolute darkness.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Allison asked, leaning apprehensively forward to look over the edge and into the abyss.

Meg's voice quivered and lost a good bit of it's jovial quality. She asked, "Did we just open up some sort of Hellhole in the floor?"

"Uh..." Queenie stammered, unsure.

"I thought we were going to recreate Misty's body and put her soul back into it..." Zoe said then, ashamed.

"This is what happens when you make up spells," Beth's haughty, high-pitched voice reprimanded her.

Zoe retorted crassly, "Oh, shut up."

Within the pit there wasn't much of anything. It was just an opening into nothingness. Allison told them, "I don't see anything. Are we supposed to go in there or what?"

"We're going to be in so much trouble. There's a giant hole in my floor," Queenie whined. "And I'm sure as hell not going down there."

The hole began to expand and contract. It appeared to be breathing and the girls all quieted, watching. They still didn't break the circle. The pit never got any larger than the circle of sage and no sounds came from it or from around them. The world had become completely silent except their own breath noises. Time ticked by and nothing happened, except the hole just kept widening and then closing down to the size of a pinhead. When it contracted they could all see that the pentagram was gone, along with everything that had been in it.

"It's like some sort of anus to Hell," Allison said softly. "Hell-anus. Does that sound like Latin? Did we accidentally create a Hellanus? Is it Latin for Hell's butthole?"

Everyone then looked at her and Queenie said, "If I knew I could break the circle without being sucked into that pit I would slap the shit out of you right now."

In the next second a noise emanated unexpectedly from the hole. It was barely audible and sounded sort of like the last bit of water going down a drain. With the noise the hole spat out the feather and remained closed. A sliver of light made it into the room through the gap in the curtains and the feather shimmer. It glistened with thick blood.

At the same time, Cordelia sat on the edge of Misty's bed in her shack. She cupped the vial of glowing potion in her hands and looked at the light between her fingers. She felt its soothing warmth and became absorbed in the sounds of the swamp as she waited. She didn't know what she waited for, but she waited. She needed a sign that Misty's soul would have its body to come back to before she drank the potion and ventured into the netherworld. She decided that if nothing happened by sunrise she would drink the potion anyway. She could at least get her soul out of Hell and send it on to some other place, any other place that wasn't any sort of eternal misery.

She heard a sound like lightning hitting a tree right outside and the vial suddenly became hot. She gasped, dropping it. It stayed corked and intact. She let out a sigh of relief before snagging it and putting it into her pocket in the span of about a second. Bursting out through the door, she spun around in a circle, checking her surroundings for the source of the noise. There hadn't been a flash like there should have been with lightning and the sky was still perfectly clear. The tone of the swamp sounds changed from anticipatory to confused and even the air seemed to be charged with magic. It felt more humid and heavy. She moved toward the water where she'd deposited Misty's ashes and she looked down to the place where she knew the dust had been. The grass in the area was slightly crumbled where she'd been hunched down.

The water flowed a little more quickly than it had before and she followed the motion of the current with her eyes. The water was all moving toward some sort of hole. The water toppled over the edges and into it.

Cordelia watched, perplexed. It contracted and then stretched out again. There didn't seem to be anything inside of it and the water level wasn't getting any lower. Her brain could barely comprehend it. Then she knew. She simply knew that she needed to get back to the Academy. Someone there had done something. The hole closed up and the world around her went back to normal. She had to go. She had to get back. The house was going to collapse and it somehow also had to do with Misty Day.

_~~~_

_Taken by the sky.  
_ _Dreams unwind._  
"Rhiannon" - Fleetwood Mac


	11. Chapter 11

Everything was still again for a few seconds after the bloody feather erupted from the dark pit. The girls all assumed that it was going to stay closed and just as they all began to relax itopened up again, but this time with a piercing scream that came from none of the five girls. It was accompanied by a blinding flash. The light faded all at once and the hole had hurled out a body into the shadowy room.

"Holy fuck..." Allison muttered and she started to pull away from Queenie and Beth. They held her hands tightly and didn't let her go.

The pale, gray form writhed on the floor, murmuring and making slobbering noises. It looked like a water-logged alien and little more. In the next moment though it began to morph and take proper shape. The wrinkly skin plumped up and in no time it had a mess of blonde hair. The young woman in the middle of the circle continued to groan and mutter incoherently, remaining stark naked. She pawed at the floor, disrupting both the sage and the salt.

"Misty!" both Zoe and Queenie exclaimed.

Misty didn't hear them.

"Is that her? Can we break the circle?" Meg asked.

Zoe flipped the light switch with her mind and they all winced at the sudden illumination. Misty's behavior didn't change in response to the light or any of their voices. She balled up into the fetal position and continued muttering things that didn't sound like words. Queenie went ahead and released her grip on Allison and Zoe. She cast her bag of potato chips aside and grabbed onto Misty's shoulders. "God damn, she's cold," she said. "I've got extra sheets in my closet."

Meg moved quickly, tossing a folded sheet toward her. Queenie and Zoe worked quickly to unfold it and attempted to wrap Misty in it, but she kept squirming and pawing at nothing. They worked to move her out of the circle just in case the floor opened up again.

"God damn, this is sort of what Kyle was like when he first came back to life," Zoe said. "Except he was less damp."

"She smells like a damn swamp," Queenie said.

Misty's lips and extremities were bluish and her eyes were wide open, but she didn't see them. She looked past them and at a world none of them could see. She didn't try specifically to get away from Queenie, but she didn't seem able to be still. Queenie thought that maybe it was because she was freezing. Beth remained sitting where she was and just watched, studying and fascinated. Allison got up and sat on the end of Queenie's bed again and her brow furrowed deeply. Meg opened her vodka and took a long drink then wiped her mouth with her forearm.

Queenie attempted to hold the wriggling blonde girl still and wrapped her arms tightly around her. Zoe slapped her cheeks lightly and said, "Misty, it's Zoe. Can you hear me?" She snapped her fingers in front of her face, "Misty?"

She didn't blink or respond and continued her to incessantly mumble.

"What's she saying?" Meg asked and picked up the bag of chips with her free hand. "It sounds like she's saying something."

They all quieted and listened.

"I could barely understand this bitch before she was wigging out like this," Queenie said and held onto her more tightly.

Putting her hands on either side of her face, holding it still, Zoe tried to make sense of the jibberish. She shook her head and gave up, "I dunno."

"Hey," Allison said, barely louder than a whisper. Everyone ignored her.

Meg snacked on chips and knelt down next to the others. She waved her palm in front of Misty's eyes. No response.

"You guys," Allison said, a little louder.

Meg pinched Misty's bare shoulder then she pinched harder. Misty did nothing to indicate she felt it. "God damn, she is cold," Meg observed. "Are we sure she's alive and we haven't like...I dunno...made a zombie?"

Zoe started feeling around her neck for a pulse.

"Hey, assholes," Allison cleared her throat, finally getting some attention. "She's not here. Well, she is, but she thinks she's still wherever she was...or, like, she is still wherever she was, partially. It hard to explain. She's saying a lot, her thoughts are jumbled. She's totally freaking out in her head. Going on about killing something. Over and over. There's all this laughter. It's really muddled, for real."

"Jesus, did we do some sort of weird version of Ascensum?" Queenie questioned the group.

"I don't know..." Beth then muttered and she cocked her head, still studying Misty Day and every one of her twitches.

"What do we do?" Meg asked. They all exchanged confused glances. Then she added, "Should we just kill her?"

"No!" Queenie and Zoe said at once.

Beth looked toward Allison, "Try to go in her head. Someone try to go in her head and talk some sense into her. Calm her down. If she can relinquish her grasp on the netherworld then she should get snapped back here. She probably thinks the netherworld is reality. I think..."

"She's alive," Zoe said, finding a pulse. Just as she said it, Misty went rigid in Queenie's arms and let out a shrill scream. Zoe clapped her hand over her mouth and then there was a knock at the door.

They all froze and Kyle's voice said, "Is everything ok?"

Cordelia arrived outside of the gates just as Misty let out the very sudden, blood-curdling scream. Cordelia heard the sound quite clearly and then its abrupt cessation, even from the sidewalk. There was no doubt that the entire house heard it and maybe some of the neighbors. It was a scream and she was sure of it, a scream of complete agony. A lot of lights were still on in the rooms, but her mind and her eyes were instantly drawn to one particular illuminated window. What the hell had they done?

~~~

_Well, I found you._  
Quiet now, songbird, just for one night.  
"Thousand Days" - Stevie Nicks


	12. Chapter 12

Kyle opened the door at the same moment that Cordelia materialized in the room.

"Is everyone-" Kyle started.

He was cut off promptly by the Supreme, "What in God's name is going on in here?!" She stood there with her hands as fists at her side, red-faced. No one answered and she continued with her enraged tangent, "I left you two in charge! I was gone for a few hours and...and..." her voice trailed off and she took a moment to assess the situation. Kyle stood, stunned in the doorway with his hand still gripping the knob. Allison sat on the end of Queenie's bed, leaning forward, her hands dangling between her knees. Beth blinked up at her behind her huge glasses with her mouth slightly agape. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor. Meg was crouched on her haunches with a bottle of vodka and a bag of chips looking rather vacant and only a little drunk. There was salt and sage everywhere, and candles. Queenie's back was to her and she was holding onto a seventh person. Zoe's hand was over the young blonde's mouth. Misty Day was lying half on the floor and half on Queenie's lap, wrapped in a sheet. Cordelia's arms relaxed and the color existed her cheeks. She said more quietly, "What did you do?"

Again, no one answered her. They all quickly looked at one another, hoping someone else would be the one to say something.

"Kyle," Cordelia said to him, "Close the door and make sure all of the other girls stay where they are. No one in the hall."

He took a moment to look sadly at Misty, but then did so without a word as Cordelia elbowed her way between Zoe and Meg. Zoe said, "If I move my hand, she'll scream."

Cordelia ignored her and pushed her hand away. Misty didn't scream. She'd returned to her mumbling, staring, and twitching. She brushed her hair from her forehead and knew immediately that she wasn't exactly with them.

"We think she's still stuck," Allison offered up. "Not completely stuck. Maybe halfway stuck. I think she's both places at once, but she still thinks she's in Hell...if that makes sense."

She heard Allison, but she couldn't respond to her. Her anger had subsided and her voice caught tightly in her throat. Allison was right. Misty was still stuck. She had a pretty good idea what happened - the girls had been performing their own spell at the same time that she was. The swamp had revived Misty again, but they ended up summoning her body through some sort of insane wormhole. She didn't have time to think about how they pulled that off. Then they'd also done something to demand her soul be returned. It wasn't Ascensum, but it had only halfway worked and they ended up with the same results that some Ascensum attempts that achieved. The Lords of Hell didn't really like to give people back. Poor Misty Day was now stretched between the world of the living and world of the dead. She touched the girl's cheeks and her neck. She was cold. It was probably the chilly swamp water combined with her being on the cusp of death.

"More blankets. Warm her up and keep her warm. I'll be back," Cordelia said and stood back up. "Talk to her. I don't know if it'll do any good, but it might give her something to grab onto in this world. Talk among yourselves or something. The five of you need to keep her alive until I get back. You have one job, understand? I'll try not be long."

"Whatchu doing, Cordelia?" Queenie asked her, concerned.

She pulled the vial from her pocket and all of them shied away from the bright light. It was even insanely bright in the fully-lit room. She answered her with frankness, "I'm going to Hell." 

"You're not doing Descensum..." Zoe observed.

Cordelia shook her head, "No. I'm walking straight into whatever Hell she's is in and I'm bringing her back out. Pretty straight-forward, huh?"

"What if you don't come back?" Beth asked her, sheepishly. It was something they were all probably wondering.

She looked at each of them, "If I don't come back...well, you'll have to find a new Supreme, I guess."

When she removed the cork there was a pop and a fizzing sound. She didn't hesitate to lift the warm substance to her lips and she swallowed it down like a shot. It was warm, but tasted like absolutely nothing despite the conglomeration of ingredients it contained. It warmed her all the way down to her stomach. She heard the girls talking, but they sounded like they were at the far end of a tunnel. Their voices were filled with bafflement and curious inflections. They didn't know what she was doing. They didn't see what she could see.

A door had spawned from the floor and loomed above her. It was a fairly nondescript door, but at the same time it looked unwelcoming and was composed of a rotten, black wood. A curved, old-fashioned iron handle beckoned her. She grabbed it and found that it was locked.

"Open your door to me," she demanded and there was a resonating click as it unlocked at her behest. She tried the door again and it opened inward with a creak like it hadn't been opened in decades. She pushed it open completely revealing a long hallway with a tile floor and fluorescent lights. She looked down the hallway for a moment. "Ladies," she called back to the girls. "Talk loud."

She stepped through. Once passing the threshold of the door, she turned back. The strange door sat in the middle of the hallway and on the other side of the door, she saw Queenie's room. They were all staring toward the door, but she was certain they couldn't see it. She was afraid that if the door shut then she too would be trapped in Misty's Hell, whatever it was. She would be completely trapped, physically. It was one thing for just your soul to be trapped, but another for both your body and mind to be stuck.

She started down the hallway. It seemed to be completely silent at first aside from her boots as she walked. It was a school and the classroom doors she passed all opened up to empty space. It was a middle school based on the whimsical, slightly childish bulletin boards. After a few minutes of walking, she heard the echoing laughter coming from behind a door ahead. There was movement beyond that door instead of nothingness. She moved as quickly as she could, but she felt like she was going painfully slow. The hallway was a surreal joke and it just kept stretching and stretching before her. She didn't look back. She wouldn't look back until she found Misty.

With a surge of determination, she sprinted forward and reached the door. She grabbed onto the cold, metal handle afraid it would move farther away from her if she hesitated for too long. She opened the door and the scene in the room stopped. The room was full of students and they all stopped what they were doing to look at her. They glared at her for her interruption. The teacher stood at the front of the class and he looked at her too. It was a science class. Misty sat across from the door at a lab bench her hands hovering over a tray in front of her.

"Can I help you?" the teacher asked Cordelia.

She didn't care about him. He wasn't real. None of them were real. She looked at the blonde woman too old to be in a middle school biology class. She said, "I'm here for Misty Day."

Misty's face was one of panic and there was no recognition in her eyes as she looked at Cordelia. Her cheeks were tear-streaked.

The teacher asked, "May I ask why and who you are?"

"Misty," she pleaded, ignoring him. "Just come with me. Get up and come with me."

There was still no recognition and at that moment a frog croaked and hopped beneath her hands. She looked down at it. The boy sitting next to her shouted, "She did it again!"

The scene spiraled out of control and the strange cloaked woman in the doorway was forgotten for the moment. Misty screamed and began to cry. The children laughed. The teacher yelled. Cordelia watched helplessly as Misty's teacher forced her to kill the frog she'd just brought back to life. She put down the scalpel forced into her hand and hovered her palms above it, sobbing. After a few seconds it croaked and jumped. She smiled and sniffled. The boy next to her yelled and it all began again.

Cordelia walked into the classroom and wove between the other lab benches. She grabbed Misty by the arm and jerked her roughly from the lab stool where she sat. She said to her between her teeth, "Come with me."

"Excuse me. Excuse me," the teacher said. "You can't just take one of my students. This is a very important-"

"Shut up," Cordelia said to him, dragging Misty behind her and toward the door.

"I don't know you," Misty whimpered. "I can't go with you. I don't know you."

Once back in the hallway the classroom door slammed shut. Misty jumped and Cordelia turned to her, grabbing both of her shoulders. She shook her, "This isn't real. I'm real. I'm Cordelia."

Nothing. 

~~~

 _But the fever breaks when it's too much to take,_  
 _So you can put your weapons down.  
_ "Carousel" - Stevie Nicks


	13. Chapter 13

Talk. They needed to talk and they were all sitting there silently and staring at the spot where Cordelia was standing before she took a step and disappeared. There had been a brief moment where they all mumbled in awe and confusion, but it turned quickly to silence. It looked like Cordelia merely teleported. It happened very quickly. She took a few steps and then vanished. Queenie was sure she'd heard something that sounded like a lock clicking and then a door opening on long neglected hinges. 

"Meg, get everything blanket-like out of my closet. Go," Queenie instructed. "And we need to talk."

"I could set something on fire too," Meg said from the closet, pulling everything out. "That'll warm her up. I could torch these blankets."

"No," Zoe said, seriously.

"I was joking. Jesus. We're supposed to be talking. I was talking."

Allison then said, "So did any of you see  _Inception_? It had Leo DiCaprio in it, Joseph Gordon Levitt and that girl, Ellen Whatever. They had these totem things that they took with them when they entered dreams. Then they used to them to know whether they were awake or not."

Each of their heads turned toward her slowly. Queenie cocked an eyebrow.

"What? It's totally relevant," she insisted. "Maybe if we witches had a way to remind us that we were in Descensum we could get back out easier, right?"

"Genius," Beth spoke facetious as she got up from her place on the floor. She walked over and picked up the vial that Cordelia drank from before she disappeared. It had slipped from her hand and she hadn't even noticed.

"Do you know what the stuff was?" Queenie asked her as she began draping blankets over the still trembling Misty with Meg and Zoe's help.

"No idea, but it was really interesting."

Misty began muttering very adamantly. It sounded like she said, "I don't want to."

"Back to  _Inception_ ," said Allison. "Do witches not watch movies? I saw it twice. I-"

"I saw it," Zoe interrupted her. "I don't really want to talk about it right now though."

"Does anyone want a drink of this?" asked Meg. "A little drink to make us a bit more...chatty? Less tense?"

Queenie shook her head, but said, "Bring my chips back."

"You can eat at a time like this?" Beth was still gazing at the vial, curiously. "I thought you couldn't eat when you were nervous."

"I eat to cope with my stress. I'm pretty damn stressed. Not nervous. There's a fine line between the two." She motioned, ushering Meg over, "Now give me those. Come on."

Meg handed over the bag and then looked down at those still sitting on the floor.

Zoe glanced up at her and asked, "So how the hell did you catch those curtains on fire anyway?"

"I was doing my fire-breathing trick."

"You have a fire-breathing trick?"

"Yeah," she said, very merrily again. "Trying it with wine wasn't my best idea. Wanna see it? I can do it now."

"Don't do it in my room, Meg," Queenie reminded her as she plunged a hand into the potato chips. "In fact, you probably shouldn't do it inside. Ever."

Conversation died for a moment and they realized that Misty had become silent too. They all looked at her. She blinked once, slowly and deliberately. Zoe leaned over her and started patting her cheeks again, "Hey. Hey, Misty? Are you in there? This is Zoe."

Another blink, but then nothing. Zoe looked toward Allison for an answer.

"Something changed. She's still confused, but something changed," she told them.

"Cordelia," said Queenie and they all agreed. She shoveled chips into her mouth as she sat holding Misty with one arm. The girl had stopped flailing and pawing. She was still shaking, but she was more manageable. She seemed to be warming up too, which was surely a good sign. Queenie thought she may have been making that up though. Wishful thinking and all. She looked down at her face. She was still silent. Her lips didn't look quite as blue, she was positive about that. A few chip crumbs fell from her fingers and landed on Misty's chest and she brushed them off. She sort of liked it better when she was mumbling. Now it was like she was comatose with her eyes open and it was a little creepy.

"We stopped talking again," Meg pointed out.

Allison took a deep breath to prepare for another monologue, "What happened in  _Inception_  is basically just like Descensum. You get stuck in Descensum because it seems so real you forget that it isn't, right? So if we had totems-"

"Yes. Good." Queenie snapped, "I don't want to talk about Descensum or the netherworld, ok? This poor girl got stuck there and now Cordelia might..." she shook her head and didn't finish. She didn't want to say it out loud. Everyone knew what she was going to say though.

"This potion," Beth began. "I bet it took days to make at least. Remind me to ask Cordelia about it when she gets back. I'm really curious about potions."

"Her voice is annoying too," Queenie groaned again. "Meg, you talk. You've got a nice advertisement voice."

"What's an advertisement voice?" she asked.

"Like, you could do commercials, bitch. It's exactly what it sounds like. What else could I possibly mean?"

"Oh," she sat down on the window sill and said, "Do you all want to hear a story about my troubled childhood? I got shuffled into the system when I was six and I was in..." she looked down at her hands and counted her fingers. "I was in thirteen different foster homes before I ended up here."

"Can't you talk about something uplifting?" Allison spoke up again. "I was at least trying to be uplifting."

"Well, it has a happy ending. Sort of. I ended up here and now I'm with you fine people as we rescue this girl from Hell."

Misty screamed again before anything else could be said. She flailed, knocking the chips from Queenie's hand and struggling under the blankets. The muttering began again after her screaming stopped.

"Talk," Zoe reminded them all.

They talked about this and that as Misty mumbled and then silenced again. Queenie cradled her as best she could. She touched her cheek with the back of her hand. She became fairly certain that she was getting warmer. As everyone else talked, she listened for sounds coming from the direction that Cordelia had gone. Maybe she'd made up the sounds from before. Her legs were going to sleep from sitting with them crossed for so long and she was getting really hungry. The chips weren't cutting it, but she was still eating them. She hadn't eaten much over the past few days and it all hit her just now at this inopportune moment.

Misty's body went rigid again and Queenie prepared for another agonized scream, but the scream didn't come right away. After tensing, the blonde sat up straight, wildly disoriented and with a gasp like she was waking up from a terrible nightmare. She grabbed onto the nearest person, which was Queenie and only then did the screaming begin. She buried her face in Queenie's ample chest and dug her fingers in her t-shirt sleeves.

"Whoa, girl," Queenie said and tried to peel her off, but she was stuck. "That you in there Misty? Get your face outta my tits."

In response, she screamed insanely and helplessly. There was a sound like a door slamming shut and then more screaming. Zoe's arms were around Misty's waist, tangled up in the sheets and blankets as she tried to remove her death-grip on Queenie. Queenie looked over her shoulder and saw Cordelia lying face down on the floor, clutching her stomach. She cried out as well. She sounded like she had when she was blind and the damn Axeman was menacing her. 

"Calm these bitches down!" Queenie demanded. "They're gonna wake the whole damn house."

Meg and Beth went to Cordelia. Kyle burst through the door to see what all of the commotion was then he too went to Cordelia's side. Queenie kept trying to see what was going on with the Supreme, but she couldn't get away from Misty. Misty may have been smaller than her, but she was being particularly feisty and just wouldn't let go.

~~~

 _I see her walk on water,_  
 _Head held up high,_  
 _Playing in God's garden._  
"God's Garden" - Stevie Nicks


	14. Chapter 14

The lack of recognition in Misty's eyes as they stood together in the hallway made Cordelia's heart sink. She sighed and took her hands in her own. "It's me. Cordelia. Miss Delia. You were attempting the Seven Wonders. You passed the Telekinesis trial and Concilium, but then Descensum," she said quickly in desperation. "Any of that sound familiar?"

She shook her head, "No."

"It doesn't matter," she said, but maybe it did. She hoped that once on the other side of the door with Misty's soul all in one place that she'd remember. "Come on," she dropped one of her hands and maintained her grip on the other then began leading her down the hallway toward the door. The door looked exactly the same on this side, but didn't have the same unwelcoming air. To her relief it was still wide open, but she quickly realized after several paces that it wasn't getting any closer.

"What is that?" Misty pointed ahead of them.

"You can see it?"

"Yeah, it's a weird door."

"That's the way home, if we can just get there. None of this is real, Misty. You shouldn't be here. The real world is out there."

Misty said nothing, but responded by squeezing Cordelia's hand tightly. Seeing the door was a good sign, right? Cordelia felt a little more relief and the door also seemed closer. She began to make out the shapes of people on the other side. She picked up the pace and Misty trailed along. She was wearing the very same outfit she was wearing when she began the Descensum trial. Cordelia remembered it almost exactly. The shawl, the bangles, all of her necklaces. She risked a glance at her and found the same looked of dumb confusion, but she was still coming with her. Misty trusted her. She trusted everyone. Cordelia just needed to get her to the other side of that door. The hall was silent aside from her boots again pounding the floor and this time Misty's boot heels and her bracelets creating a faint jingling. She looked ahead again, down the endless hallway. The door had closed just slightly.

"Who are all those people through the door?" Misty asked her shyly, still tagging along with no argument, but not seeming to grasp the urgency that Cordelia felt.

"Those are your friends."

"Friends?" she asked as if the word were foreign to her.

"Yes, you have so many friends on the other side of that damn door."

She squeezed her hand again and Cordelia thought she couldn't hear their voices. She thought she heard Beth for sure. God, she was shrill. 

"Miss Delia?" Misty questioned.

"Yes?"

"Do you like plants?"

Cordelia glanced at her again, "Yes."

"I think I'm rememberin' something, but feels sort of like a dream. If that makes sense..."

"Yes, good. This place is the dream though. Keep telling yourself that. There's a light. Do you see the light? Listen for voices. They're all talking so you can find your way back. You can get out through the light, ok?"

"What about you?"

"I've got to get back through that door because it's how I got in."

Quiet again, followed by, "Queenie and Zoe."

"Yes. You remember them?"

"And Hollywood."

"Madison," Cordelia nodded and she swore the door was closing just an inch at a time, but it was still closing. Wouldn't it be something if Misty got out through the light and then she ended up stuck in this damned school hallway for the rest of eternity?

"The swamp. Kyle. Miss Myrtle and Miss Fiona. How did I forget them?"

"This place made you forget." She felt a slight pinch in her abdomen. She ignored it. "What about Stevie?"

"Stevie Nicks is a white witch."

"So are you."

Misty grinned, but then it faded a bit, "I'm not the Supreme. That's good. I didn't want all that responsibility. I didn't want merch either...whatever merch is."

"No, I'm the Supreme."

Misty laced their fingers together, "Miss Delia, I knew you were. Is that how you can see again?"

She nodded and the feeling in her gut worsened slightly. She didn't falter. The door was closer. 

"You came to get me?"

"Your friends out there helped," she indicated toward the door that she was working so hard to get to.

"You ain't always gotta be so modest." Cordelia faltered and grabbed her stomach with her other arm. She tried to keep going, she could have kept going, but Misty moved in front of her and brought her to a stop. "Miss Delia?"

Cordelia took a deep breath and composed herself. It wasn't a stitch in her side. She felt like her stomach was boiling. "Misty," she said, "Do you see the light and hear their voices?" 

She nodded slightly, but looked confused. "I hear somebody I don't know talkin' about something called 'Inception.'" She made air-quotes around it. "I never heard of that."

This made Cordelia laugh a little, in spite of her pain and the dire situation, but she urged her on, "Go toward the light. Wake up from this. Just go. You can go back now because you know this isn't real."

"I don't wanna leave you."

"God dammit, just go."

"Nah. We're goin' to the door. Then I'll fix you up." She linked her arm with Cordelia's at the elbow and they started moving again. "You outta shape or somethin'?"

"No. It must be the potion..." The door was only a little more than half open and they weren't there. Hell was a cruel place. "A lot's changed since you've been gone."

"How long was I gone?"

"A few months."

"Oh," she sounded surprised. "Well, we're almost to the door."

"You're so optimistic. You've been trapped in Hell and you're still so damn optimistic," Cordelia shook her head and chuckled.

"This was bad. I didn't like this at all. I'm sorry I didn't do it right...I just...it..."

"It's fine. It's all fine," Cordelia insisted before Misty could even try to form a sentence. Then a stabbing pain doubled her over. Misty grabbed onto her and she said, "Yeah, it's the potion I drank. I knew there might be side-effects. I didn't think they'd kick in this soon. How the hell is a witch supposed to enjoy a walk in the afterlife if she gets horrible stomach cramps in, like, fifteen minutes, huh?"

"I'll fix it," Misty told her and hovered her hands in front of her stomach as she'd held them over the frog in the classroom. Nothing happened.

Cordelia moved her hands away and started them again for the door, "Won't work here. This isn't real, remember? You're out there."

"But you're in here?"

"I'm totally in here."

They walked side-by-side at a moderately fast pace. Cordelia couldn't go any faster. The door looked closer still, but not close enough, never close enough. Misty asked, "Why would you do that for me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" No sooner than she spoke did the pain grapple her once more. This attack was so severe it also came with a sudden flash of heat and a wave of lightheadedness. The hallway spun and she thought she saw the door whirl around her no less than six times before she went down. In the next second Misty's arms were around her, cradling her just as she'd clung so pathetically to her before she turned to dust.

"We're almost there," Misty said to her. "It's only about ten more feet, Miss Delia. It'll take one minute." 

Cordelia shook her head, "Just go toward the light. After you go then I'll use transmutation."

"No, I-"

"Do it. I'll meet you on the other side. Do you hear them?"

She nodded, looking down at her.

The Supreme reached up and stroked her cheek with the back of her hand, "Help me up and I'll see you soon in the real world."

"Promise?" she asked and Cordelia could barely hear her.

"Yes. I promise," she said anyway.

"Can you do transmutation here?"

"I'm the Supreme. I can do what I want." At least she sure hoped so.

Misty nodded again and helped her to her feet. She steadied her and then lingered still, helping her take a few more steps forward.

"Go," Cordelia said again, slightly more harshly. "Follow the light. You shouldn't be here. You don't deserve this."

It seemed to take a moment for Misty to process her words. She stood close to Cordelia, worrying at her bottom lip before she took a step back. Another crippling pain sent her to her knees as Misty looked up and faded away. She hoped she made it out and back to the world of the living. She didn't know if she would be able to. She was on the cold, tile floor on her hands and knees. She looked up and saw the door. It really was close. Ten feet, just like Misty said. One minute away, just like she said. She looked at it and focused all of her remaining strength on reaching the other side.

~~~

 

_You and I will simply disappear  
Out of sight,_  
 _But I'm afraid soon there'll be_  
 _No light._  
"Planets of the Universe" - Stevie Nicks


	15. Chapter 15

Miss Delia collapsed again as Misty followed the light. Once in the light, she couldn't go back. She wanted to, but she couldn't. She was stuck in the light and then the light shit her out in a place full of pain as Miss Delia faded away along with the hallway of that terrible school. She was cold and stiff and every part of her body was searing. She felt like she was dying. Or at the very least she wished she would die to make it all stop. It had been this way after the enraged church folk, her family included, had dragged her then strung up like an animal before setting her on fire. She remembered all of that pain perfectly. It was followed by nothing and then a world of pain all over again as she emerged from the swamp. It was just like that, maybe worse. It was hard to say. 

The pain became all muddled with Miss Delia being left behind, which was a sort of pain all its own. Misty Day never left anyone behind.

There were voices all around her. She couldn't understand what they were saying. It sounded like a bunch of nonsense and there was also someone screaming. It took her several moments to realize she was the one screaming and even then she couldn't stop. She grabbed for someone, anyone. Someone was holding her and she grabbed them. They were warm and she was so cold.

She heard Queenie's voice. She said a few things, but all Misty made sense of was, "Get your face outta my tits."

She wanted to badly to say something, but all she could do was scream. She wanted to say she was back and that Miss Delia helped her. Her entire body was pins and needles and her blood felt like acid or something else that was burning her insides to bits. She'd been alone when this happened before. Alone except whatever creatures came to investigate her tattered corpse. Now there were all of these people around and she felt ashamed. She was naked too and she knew they were all looking at her. She was in so much pain and she abandoned Miss Delia, and all of these people were seeing her naked and crying. They were all going to think she was stupid. This blur of thoughts bombarded her and then came the horrid memories of her Hell. She brought that frog back to life again and again. She lost count how many times and her classmates laughed at her. They called her a freak and her teacher made her kill it. It happened over and over. Again and again. She screamed again, afraid she'd go back there. 

Her scream echoed. It didn't sound her like her though. It wasn't her. It was Miss Delia.

"Calm these bitches down!" Queenie's voice boomed.

Misty liked Queenie. Queenie was in charge. Someone was grabbing her, pulling her. She held on to the soft fabric that she'd gotten a hold of. It was Queenie's shirt. She was gaining some of her senses. She quieted as best she could. Everything still hurt and she whimpered, tears streaking her face. She gasped desperately for air and released her grip all at once.

She and whoever held on to her went falling backwards. She was tangled in a bunch of blankets and sheets, panting, and feeling useless.

"Misty?" Suddenly Zoe leaned over her. Zoe was who had been holding on to her. "Is that you?"

She nodded, adamantly. "Miss Delia? Where's Miss Delia?"

"I'm here," Miss Delia's voice was hoarse and faint, but nearby.

Misty flailed and tried to get out of the mess of blankets. Zoe grabbed onto her again and Queenie sat in front of her. Queenie said, "Relax. You're naked. None of us want to see that. Chill out. You're not dead and you're not in Hell anymore."

Her vision started to clear and the room came into focus. She wiped the tears from her eyes, sniffling. Zoe was holding a sheet over her while two girls and Kyle were tending to Miss Delia. There was another girl she didn't know sitting on the bed. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts a bit more then she said faintly, "Kyle? That you?"

Kyle perked. Miss Delia was sitting up, still rubbing her stomach. She was saying something to one of the girls. That girl had big glasses and a lot of hair. She looked like she was mostly hair. Kyle came over and hugged her. She hugged him back as tightly as she could manage with her body aching with every movement.

"It'll pass," Miss Delia said to the girls. "I didn't expect it to set in so soon. I'll be as good as new as soon as it's out of my system."

"Do you need some Pepto or...vodka?" the other girl asked her.

She shook her head and looked toward Misty. Her legs were folded under her and a very soft looking black cloak hung around her. She continued to look at Misty, but she was talking to all of them, "If I make it through the night tonight then I'll probably live."

Everyone silenced.

Miss Delia laughed a little, "I'm joking. It won't kill me. I just need to rest. Zoe, Queenie...you're in charge again. For fuck's sake, don't open any portals to Hell or anything like that. Tomorrow's Saturday. Make sure no one kills anyone else or themselves and avoid dying. Get me to my room."

Misty spoke up, "Where...um...where am I supposed to go?"

"My room," said Miss Delia. "Kyle, can you help her?"

He nodded.

"I can walk," she insisted. The pain had subsided to a tolerable dull ache, still encompassing her entire body. She could deal with it though.

"You're naked," Zoe reminded her.

"Oh...I...can I borrow a sheet? I don't even have any idea whose room I'm in right now."

"Make sure the halls are clear," the Supreme instructed the girl sitting on the bed, the redhead. "I don't know what this potion is doing to me."

That girl nodded at about the same time that Kyle scooped Misty up off of the floor. The first sheet that had been put over her remained wrapped around her and he carried her like she was nothing. She fondly put her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly as he carried her. She forgave him for breaking Stevie. They followed the rest of the troupe into Miss Delia's big, luxurious bedroom. She basically had her own place in that big, old house. It was about four times the size of Misty's shack and that was just the bedroom. Miss Delia also had a real big bathroom and a closet too. The closet was about the size of Misty's shack.

Kyle sat Misty down and said, "Thank you."

"What're you thankin' me for? You just toted me all this way."

"Thank you for taking care of me," he said quietly.

"Oh, Kyle...I..." she wrapped an arm back around his neck again, using the other to hold up the sheet and never finished her sentence.

Miss Delia stumbled into the bathroom and before she shut the white double-doors she said, "Misty, your things you had here are all in my closet. I'll be out in a bit. Everyone go to bed. Get some rest. I'll be here if you need me, but try not to need me."

The redheaded girl pulled the box of her things out for her and said, "Hey, you had a feather thing in here, but we used it to bring you back, so...it's kinda gone."

"It's ok. I can make another."

The girl smiled and then everyone filed out, mumbling about this and that. Misty dressed in her bedclothes, which were just her normal clothes with less accessories. An airy skirt and a top. She pulled her Stevie shawl out the box. Madison had taken it, but she got it back and it smelled like cigarettes. She held it close to her and it didn't smell like cigarettes anymore or maybe someone aired it out for her. Miss Delia maybe. Her joints still throbbed if she moved too quickly, but the rest was almost completely gone. She didn't know what to do with the sheet, so she folded it and put it on the floor at the foot of the big bed. The bed was about the size of her whole house too. She looked at it and she didn't know what to do, so she kept just looking at it.

"Misty, you can get in the bed. It's big enough for both of us," Miss Delia said from the opening between her bathroom doors.

"It's big enough for me to get lost in, Miss Delia." She smiled back at her and asked, "Can I fix your stomach ache?"

"I don't know. It's the potion."

"Can I try?"

She nodded, and although Misty felt exhausted and that big bed looked extra appealing, she crossed over toward the Supreme. She'd changed into her own night clothes. A silk, black thing with lace along the top and the bottom. She also had on a black silk robe that went all the way down to the floor. Misty twisted her face and held her hands over Cordelia's stomach. She concentrated on whatever was wrong in there, the potion having a reaction, and she wanted it all to stop.

"I dunno if it's workin' cus it's inside you," she said. "You're the Supreme. I didn't know the Supreme got stomach aches."

"Normally I don't. It was a very strong potion though. Come on," she grabbed her forearms and turned her around. "Let's go to sleep, unless you're hungry or you need something."

"I'm real tired. Tomorrow though, can you tell me everything I missed while I was gone?"

"Of course," she said kindly and put her hand on the small of her back to urge her toward the bed. Miss Delia then crossed around to the other side and flicked the light switch off with her telekinesis. She had several large windows in her room and the curtains were all open for the moonlight.

Misty curled up with her Stevie shawl and faced away from Miss Delia, her eyes caught on the book on the nightstand, "What's this book you're readin', Miss Delia? It any good?"

"It's awful. Ignore it."

"Ok, Miss Delia."

"You can just call me Delia if you want."

"I'm glad you kept your promise."

"Me too. Goodnight."

"Night." The room was quiet for a while and then Misty piped up again, "Delia? Tomorrow can we play some Stevie, please?"

"Of course and we'll have breakfast in bed. When you feel up to it you can meet all the new girls too."

Misty smiled, her head sinking into the plush pillow and the thick comforter swallowing her. She felt safe and warm. She wasn't getting any bad vibes from the house at all and she soon drifted off to sleep.

~~~

 _You could be my silver spring,_  
 _Blue-green colors, flashing._  
 _I could be your only dream,_  
 _Your shining autumn, ocean crashing._  
"Silver Spring" - Fleetwood Mac


	16. Chapter 16

If Misty's sudden thrashing hadn't caused Cordelia to stir from her slumber then her distressed mumbling certainly would have. Cordelia woke up to find Misty fighting to escape the comforter and sheet then a second later she began pleading with someone that didn't actually exist.  

"Misty," she said softly, consoling her. She reached out and shook her gently, "Wake up."

"I don't wanna do it! Don't make me!" she babbled and began to cry, shaking her head.

Cordelia grasped her shoulder a bit more tightly and said louder, "Misty!"

She sat bolt upright, eyes open, and let out a sharp, terrified scream. She looked around in the darkness, obviously trying to make sense of where she was as she frantically wiped her eyes. She tried to speak, but all that came out was a struggling, "I..."

"It's ok," Cordelia assured her. "It was just a dream. You're in my room."

Misty nodded slightly and remained sitting up. She rubbed the back of her neck and looked over at Cordelia, embarrassed. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

"It's fine," she said and put an arm around her shoulders. She coaxed her into lying back down and Misty curled up in the crook of her arm. "You've literally been through Hell," she whispered. "It would be weird if you didn't have some nightmares."

She made a faint sighing noise that didn't sound completely convinced, but then she drifted off to sleep again a moment later. Cordelia lay awake for a bit afterward to make sure she slept soundly. She woke up again though, not much later, to Misty yanking on her nightgown and muttering again. She pulled her fingers loose and put her arms around her until she relaxed. Misty woke her up twice more before sunrise and one of those times involved more screaming. It took Cordelia several minutes to calm her down the last time, convincing her that she wasn't back in her middle school science class.

Cordelia woke up again, several hours later to find a bit of actual daylight in her room and the absence of Misty's body against hers. It was odd sharing the bed with another person after so many months of having it to herself. She didn't realize she'd missed it and she didn't mind if the little void was filled the swamp witch that woke her up four times with her nightmares. She rolled over and looked at the clock sitting beside her trashy book on the nightstand. It was just after six. She wiped a bit of sleep from her eyes and scanned the room, momentarily horrified that she'd dreamed everything from the night before and that Misty Day was still gone, nothing more than a bunch of dust. Misty wasn't gone though. She was just looking out of one of the windows across from the bed. Cordelia propped herself up on her elbows and asked, "What are you doing?"

Misty jumped and turned around, "Oh no. Did I wake you up again? I was tryin' real hard to be quiet. I feel like I woke you up about a million times last night."

She shook her head, "You ok?"

"Yeah. I actually feel...I dunno. My body feels sorta weird, but good. It's sorta like when I came back the first time. I feel new...if that makes sense."

"So what're you doing up so early?" Cordelia asked her.

"The birds always wake me up," she motioned toward the window she'd opened.

"Birds?"

"Yeah, silly. Just cus you're in the city it doesn't mean there's no birds. I always get up when the birds wake me up. They're real loud in the swamp and I couldn't sleep if I wanted."

Cordelia had lived in this house for years upon years and never heard any birds. She saw an occasional robin out back in spring. She'd never really thought about the birds actually.

Misty smiled, amused. "Come over here. You can hear 'em better."

She did as instructed, only half-awake, and sure enough there was an orchestra or harmonious chirps and whistles. She didn't see any birds, but she certainly heard them.

"I think it's a warbler or two. Maybe a chat. I think there might be a sparrow in there too. I ain't a bird expert or anything, so don't quote me on any of that."

Cordelia chuckled a little. This odd woman hadn't existed the day before, she'd been trapped in Hell for months, yet here she was going on about birds at the crack of dawn. She observed the world outside, "It looks like it's going to be a nice day too."

"Yeah. You should open your windows more. It gets kinda stuffy in this old house."

Still looking out of the window at the crisp morning, Cordelia said, "Open any windows you want." She yawned, "The girls don't start coming down for breakfast until eight at the earliest on Saturdays. I'm sure someone can whip something up for us now if you're hungry."

"I can wait. You can go back to bed if you want too. I'll be fine. I was gonna sneak out and go down to greenhouse."

"You seriously feel up for that? You were a pile of ashes yesterday." She walked back over to the bed and crawled back under the sheet. Really it was Cordelia that didn't feel up for much. Her insides still felt fairly churned from the potion and she'd expected to stay in bed until noon and take a major mental health day. She'd hadn't had an actual day off since the doors reopened.

With a shrug, Misty said, "Yeah. I told you I'm fine. What happened to me though? I know I sure can't do much with someone that's a pile of ashes."

"Let me fill you in," Cordelia began and patted the mattress next to her. Misty lay on her stomach on the huge bed, listening intently. Cordelia told her all about the outcome of the Seven Wonders, about Myrtle, and about the school. She told her all about going to the swamp and about the potion she spent weeks making. Misty was particularly amazed that the swamp and Cordelia somehow put her back together from dust and so quickly.

"Those girls last night had something to do with it too, I'm sure. I probably shouldn't have been trying to bring you back all alone, now that I think about it." She looked up at the ceiling, "You'd think that as Supreme I'd be a little smarter."

"Aw. You're the smartest person I know and I'm back, so I guess it don't really matter."

Cordelia turned back to her, both baffled and amused. "I guess it is fine. No one died or traded their souls for yours as far as I know. I definitely need to ask that little group what they did."

After getting the whole recap, Misty asked for a bit of confirmation, "So everybody knows about witches now and everything's been ok?"

She nodded. "Fine so far. Knock on wood," she reached above her head to rap on the headboard with a knuckle. "I'm actually keeping all of these girls safe. I haven't failed anyone yet like I did Nan and Madison...everyone. I didn't want any more young witches thinking they were freaks or evil or anything. What happened to you, I want to stop that from ever happening again if I can."

Misty folded her arms and pillowed her head on them, "I wish I'd had somewhere to go." Before Cordelia could say anything in response, she added, "It's alright though. I think I did ok." She then asked, "Are all the girls here nice?"

"There are a few cliques with the older girls and a couple that are pretty ambitious, but so far everything has been good," she knocked on the headboard again. "The older girls have a lot of different leadership roles, assisting with teaching the younger girls and watching out for them - things like that. I try to keep them busy, but not have this place be like any sort of military school. Speaking of leadership roles..."

"Don't you dare offer me any sort of position in your school, Miss Delia. It's fine that you put Zoe and Queenie on the Witches' Council, but I don't want none of that. I barely even finished my own schoolin'. If you ask me to do it though, I'll say yes because I ain't good at sayin' no. So just don't even ask."

"Fine," she put her hands up in surrender. The last time she thrust something on Misty it hadn't gone so well, so she decided to actually listen to her.

"I just wanna learn more magic and that's all." She changed the subject, "How's your stomach ache? That potion still botherin' you?"

"I'm already feeling a lot better and I could use some breakfast."

"Can we go down? I sorta wanna see all these witches you've rounded up."

Cordelia sat up and stretched with a faint groan, "If you want. I think I can manage."

~~~

_Listen to the wind blow._  
 _Down comes the night._  
 _Run in the shadows._  
"The Chain" - Fleetwood Mac


	17. Chapter 17

Everyone heard the screaming. There had been a lot. How could they not here it? There were even more screams later in the night apparently. Zoe slept soundly, curled up on Kyle's chest. The injustice that has befallen Misty Day had been reversed and everything would be back to normal, but with Misty's quirkiness added to the mix. She only heard about the later screams as she trekked downstairs. 

As she made her way down for breakfast, the mysterious screams were the number one topic of discussion. It was the most exciting thing to happen since Meg caught the curtains on fire. Even the youngest of the girls were whispering about the noises. Everyone had all sorts of theories and a lot of people were doing informal headcounts to see if any of their sister-witches were missing. The most popular theory passing through Miss Robichaux's was one of dark magic gone wrong. Someone was surely dead. They didn't know how close they were to the truth and Zoe realized how close the five of them had been to any number of awful things happening.

As she shuffled into the dining room, she heard Queenie's loud laugh. She wasn't sitting at her normal table and instead sat with Beth and Allison. Meg joined them and they seemed to be saving a seat for Zoe too. She listened bemusedly to all of the chatter as she made her way over. She wondered if anyone would notice their bandaged hands and make any connections. Probably not. 

"Any idea when we actually get to meet this Misty Day character?" Allison asked her as she took her seat. "I want to know if she was worth all that."

"Bitch, watch yourself," Queenie slammed her fist on the table and Allison cowered away from her. "Misty Day is weird as shit, but she's probably the only damn person worth all that."

Zoe shook her head and answered Allison, "No idea when we'll see her. I imagine she needs to recover from everything. After I finished the Descensum trial I needed some recovery time that I didn't get."

"Maybe if you're cold-hearted ass had listened to Cordelia and had a moment of silence for Misty, you woulda got a break. But no, you were getting all competitive with Madison," Queenie reminded her.

"Misty's back now. Chill out," Zoe retorted defensively.

"Oh, shit. Is that why you got skewered? Because you needed a rest?" Meg asked and snorted.

"Jesus. Would you not say it like that?" She didn't like to think about it. Getting impaled during transmutation wasn't a nice way to go.

"Zoe-kebab," said Queenie.

The others laughed and she rolled her eyes. 

"I spent some time studying the leftover droplets of potion in Cordelia's vial last night," Beth said suddenly, trying to change the subject, which was verging on hostile.

"Of course you did, nerd," Allison mumbled.

Beth shot her a glare and said, "What I was going to say is that I didn't figure anything out. It's not glowing anymore though. It's just clear."

"Oh!" Zoe said remembering, "There was another book I divined. It was down in the greenhouse. Maybe it was the book Cordelia used to make it?"

Only Beth was interested and Queenie commented, "Do you all hear everyone talking? They're sure at least one person is dead. It's gonna be a hell of a surprise when they find out we actually gained an extra witch after all that noise."

"So is she going to be in our classes and stuff? Misty, that is. She's older than the rest of us, isn't she?" asked Meg.

"Dunno," Zoe answered. "I can't really imagine her teaching anything either."

"Maybe she's going to be, like, Assistant Headmistress," Meg suggested.

Queenie laughed, "Hell nah. She'll probably just keep to herself, off somewhere messing with plants."

Allison sought some confirmation, "She has the power of resurgence, right?"

Zoe and Queenie nodded and Zoe said, "She's seriously weird though."

"Aw, don't gossip about her," Queenie reprimanded. "She lived alone in the swamp and she's died twice. Three times if you count her Descensum failure. She's nice and I think the world is a slightly better place with her in it than without her. I'm sad it took me months to realize it, but she did Concilium me into slapping the shit out of myself during the Seven Wonders. I might've been a little bitter about that."

None of them were expecting to see either Cordelia or Misty at breakfast that morning, but they came in together as they were finishing up. Whenever their headmistress, the Supreme, walked into a room she garnered the attention of everyone. She didn't intend to, but Cordelia had developed quite a presence. Fiona had a similar presence, but hers often elicited fear while Cordelia's was more kin to respect. Misty followed her into the room and attracted attention as well, mainly because she was wearing colors. Most of the girls opted for wearing black almost all the time, gray on special occasions. Since it was Saturday, most girls were in their pajamas, which were just as dull. Misty Day though wore an orange headband with a loose-fitting matching blouse and one of her typical warm brown, tapered skirts that fell below her knees. She wore a number of glittering accessories, but no shoes. Everyone watched as this seemingly out-of-place girl took a seat with the Supreme at the back of the dining room where Cordelia sometimes sat during meals to make herself accessible to the students.

The chatter picked up again with girls wondering if the newcomer had anything to do with the noises. They wondered who she was and what she doing. What she was doing at that moment was sitting awkwardly with Cordelia seeming nothing short of completely overwhelmed by the number of people in the room. She had a somewhat wild, panicked look in her eyes. They didn't stay long. Misty leaned over and whispered something to Cordelia. Cordelia then motioned for Kyle and relayed some message or another to him. The two then exited into the parlor. The five girls watched as Kyle then walked from the kitchen to the parlor with a tray of assorted breakfast foods.

"It looks like they're taking breakfast in the parlor..." Beth stated the obvious, intrigued.

"What it looked like to me was that our new...or old...well, our returned sister-witch has the illustrious headmistress wrapped around her finger," said Meg.

"No," Zoe was going to argue, but got distracted when Kyle approached them.

"The Supreme wants the five of you to see her in the parlor whenever you're finished with breakfast." He then walked around to Zoe's side of the table and gave her a brief shoulder massage before wandering away again.

In the parlor they found an odd juxtaposition as they paraded in. Sitting on the end of the couch, poised and formal as usually was Cordelia. She had her legs crossed at the knee and sipped her coffee. She wore a charcoal pencil skirt and a neatly pressed, white button-down. A partially eaten, buttered English muffin sat in front of her on the coffee table. Sitting closely next to her was Misty with her lack of social graces. She had her bare feet pulled up onto the couch and happened to be in the process of licking honey off of her fingers as they entered. Cordelia didn't seem to mind and actually seemed entertained. She maintained the half-smile on her face and greeted the girls when they came in. Misty got up and happily hugged Zoe and Queenie then hugged the other three girls whose names she didn't even know.

"I wanted to thank all of you," Misty said then looked down toward her feet. "But then there were a lot of people and I didn't really like it. I guess I..."

Cordelia gave her a slight tug on her wrist and had her sit back down. "Tomorrow afternoon, I want to make an announcement explaining to all of the girls what happened last night. We don't want them attempting anything you all did or even what I did."

"They're saying some crazy stuff out there, Headmistress," Meg hitched her thumb over her shoulder back toward the dining room.

"Let them talk for today. It's an exercise in creative thinking," she smirked. "Now, you're all welcome to hang out in here, have some more breakfast. Whatever. It's Saturday and you all managed to pull off something ridiculous last night."

"Second breakfast!" Queenie exclaimed.

They all gathered around, rearranging the assorted fancy pieces of furniture. Some apprehensive introductions were exchanged and the three new girls seemed to be under the impression that Misty thought she was a big deal. That soon passed. They asked all of the odd questions they'd been wondering about resurgence and about her descent into Hell. She'd be in some of the more advanced witchcraft classes. They were smaller and she didn't care much for the idea of classes after her own school career and then Descensum. She wanted to know everything about everyone and had the same genuine interest in everything everyone said that she'd always had. She wanted to know about everyone's powers and everything they were interested in. She demanded to know if anyone liked Fleetwood Mac and then she played some and talked excitedly about Stevie Nicks.

Zoe couldn't help but be impressed by how Misty managed to cope with everything. She had some nightmares and what seemed to be a fear of groups of people, but those facts aside, she was exactly the same. She was the exact same enthusiastic, happy person with a southern accent and a shawl. She didn't care about any of the little things Zoe had and hadn't done. If Madison weren't gone, Zoe was sure that Misty would even forgive her for clocking her with a brick and leaving her to die. Madison definitely thought Misty was dumb. Zoe still wasn't sure what she thought of Misty as she watched everyone else in the parlor.

Queenie told Cordelia all about their insane ritual and made-up spell. Beth also ended up eagerly talking to Cordelia about her Hell-potion and potion-making in general. Cordelia offered to give her some private lessons down in the greenhouse. Misty just kept being Misty.

When the conversation started to die down a bit, Zoe grabbed her attention finally, "You wanted to cook me dinner one time, remember?"

"Of course," she smiled widely. "You just say when."

~~~

 _The people, they love her,  
_ _And still they are the most cruel._  
"Sisters of the Moon" - Fleetwood Mac


	18. Chapter 18

Misty stuck close to Cordelia at first. Nothing could hurt her with the Supreme nearby. After just a few days though she started to enjoy how full of life the big house was. No one was overtly mean to her because she was, after all, the Supreme's sidekick or something. It was really boring when Cordelia had to sit in her office and do paperwork or make calls to her real estate agent about all of the big, fancy houses on the block that she was trying to acquire for the school. Misty started coming and going as she pleased, sometimes disappearing into the swamp all day, other times she'd be in the greenhouse or she'd tuck herself away in a corner of the library.

Cordelia asked to go with her to the swamp one morning and Misty responded with a surprised, "What in the world for? You'll get your nice clothes all dirty."

She laughed, "I actually wanted to collect some of that swamp water and Louisiana mud that you speak so highly of."

"I'll go with you if you really wanna go. I'll protect you from all the critters like you protect me from everything here."

"Hey now, I'm the Supreme. Plus I went out to your place to bring you back and I did ok. I just thought we might have fun. Together."

"Whatever you say, Miss Delia. The swamp knew what you were up to before and I suppose I was with you a little bit then too. In that jar or whatever you were keepin' me in."

A little while later, Misty stood letting the cool, moist breeze tug on her clothes and mess of hair. She looked over her little shack. Cordelia had trudged off into the reeds, rather bravely, to gather her samples. "The swamp let me stay here," she said. "Now the swamp is takin' this place back cus I'm gone. I promised I'd visit though and I will."

"You act like this place is sentient, Misty." Delia poked her head up from the tall grasses she was bent over in.

"It is, ain't it? Everything here's alive," she walked over and touched the leaves of a vine climbing up the side of her old house. She looked back toward Cordelia, "Watch for gators." Cordelia jumped back and moved away from the water, which elicited a laugh from her companion. "I'm just playin'. They won't bother you."

"Jesus Christ. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

After her giggling fit subsided she asked, "What're you collectin' this stuff for anyway?"

"I'd like to understand it's magical properties. I've looked through all of the catalogs of magical substances and both your mud and your water have been overlooked."

"Oh, ok." She seemed interested, but her attention shifted and she ducked inside of her shack. Cordelia followed her and watched as she found a big, brown spider, crouched on the floor. She put out her hand and let the creature crawl up her fingers. "Look at this cute fella that lives here now," she said happily and cupped it carefully in her hands. She sat the arachnid down on the bed and watched it scuttle away under her tattered sheet.

"What do you do when you come out here?" Cordelia asked.

"I just do what I always did. I walk around and find baby squirrels that fell out of their nests and I put them back. Baby birds too. I look for poor foxes caught in traps. Sometimes I just sit. You could come with me if you wanted, but you need better shoes. Them damn things will get you trapped right in a sinkhole."

"I'd like that."

Misty ushered Cordelia back out, saying, "I take it Miss Fiona never sent you to camp or anythin' like that."

"Miss Fiona sent me to live with Auntie Myrtle and Auntie Myrtle didn't care for the outside."

The taller blonde laughed a little and took Delia's wrist. She moved her arm until her palm was turned upward and she said, "Hold still."

"Don't make a bug land on me," she said quickly.

"It's not a bug. It's a dragonfly. It's not gonna hurt you. Just look at how cool it is, and if you got everything you need then we can go," she insisted. She stayed close, standing behind her with her chin resting on the other woman's shoulder. She held Cordelia's arm where it was and a dragonfly fluttered down and landed on her palm. It's iridescent wings shimmered in the sunlight. "It tickles a little, but look at it's eyeballs and check out those wings. I know dragonfly wings have got magical properties, but I never used 'em for anythin' cus...you know. I don't like doin' that."

 Cordelia looked at the insect and muttered, "Misty Day, you are so God damn fascinating."

"Aww, Delia. I've been called a lot of things and God damn fascinating has never been one of them. Thank you though," she said and gave her a tight hug from behind as the dragonfly fluttered away again.

~~~

Sometimes Cordelia would hunt Misty down for lunch or dinner, which they would take in the parlor or even outside. She still didn't like being in the dining room and felt like everyone was looking at her, laughing at her even, just like in that cursed biology class. Delia didn't mind at all that Misty didn't like the dining room. She also didn't mind that Misty sometimes just wanted to cook something for herself at odd hours. She sometimes cooked for the cooks and Queenie always seemed to find her way into the kitchen whenever Misty was there too.

"I guess if you can successfully cook food over a fire in the swamp that you can cook with a real stove and oven," Queenie observed and popped a piece of fried okra into her mouth late one night.

"I didn't live in the swamp my whole life, Miss Queenie," Misty laughed and shoved her hands inside of two oven-mitts to pull a pan of cornbread from the oven. "I used to cook with my mama before everything went bad. Besides followin' a recipe is just like makin' a potion, so maybe that's why I took a likin' to it."

"Damn, girl. I know that I've definitely taken a liking to your cooking."

"I noticed," she scooped out a neatly cut square of cornbread and deposited it on one of the fancy saucers she pulled from the cabinet. She pushed it across the island for Queenie who was sitting on the other side. 

"What do you do that makes everything so good?"

Misty leaned across the top of the island and said quietly with a mischievous grin, "I've been borrowin' some things from the greenhouse. Don't tell Miss Delia."

"Don't tell Miss Delia what?" Cordelia stood suddenly in the doorway.

Queenie shoved a number of things into her mouth and shrugged as Misty sheepishly turned back to the stove and began humming the Stevie Nicks song she had playing.

"What are you two doing up?" the Supreme asked, taking a seat on the stool next to Queenie. "It's almost midnight and it looks like you're cooking a three course meal."

"I wanted a snack is all," Misty said. "Want some?"

"May as well," she folded her arms on the counter top. "Now what was that 'Don't tell Miss Delia' about? Does it perhaps have to do with that thyme and garlic I see sitting over there, which looks a little familiar." She was smiling bemusedly as she spoke.

"Oh, Miss Delia!" Misty exclaimed. "Delia, just Delia," she corrected, flustered. "I didn't think you'd mind if I took a little here and there. I can make it grow back."

"I don't mind," she laughed. "Don't worry about it." She shrugged it off.

"Thanks, Delia," she said and served her a plate of the assorted southern-inspired dishes she'd seen fit to whip up in the night.

Queenie bumped shoulders casually with Cordelia and told her, "Meg says she's got you wrapped around her finger." She nodded toward Misty, who had turned her back to them again. "I think she might be right."

"Hush and eat your food, Queenie. I know you've got an early class tomorrow," the Supreme told her, sounding less amused.

She let out one of her loud laughs, "I was just saying. Plus I'm on the Witches' Council so I can stay up as late as I want."

Misty cleaned up and then joined them. Placing all of the remaining food on the table. She sighed and said to Queenie, "I don't know why Delia's so nice to me."

"Now you hush," Cordelia said sternly. "I'm nice to everyone. I'm a nice damn person, alright?"

"Got your panties in a bunch, Mistress Supreme-y?" Queenie moved her eyebrows up and down, continuing to try to bother her.

Cordelia glowered, "You're absolutely incorrigible."

"Nevermind what dumbass Meg said, but for real though...I also heard some girls saying she's going all concilium on your skinny ass. I put them in their place."

"I wouldn't do that," Misty said softly, looking down at her plate and letting her food get cold.

"Of course you wouldn't," Delia told her kindly, but very quickly. She looked back at Queenie, "Who said that?"

"Don't worry about it. I handled it. No one can concilium you, bitch. You're the Supreme," she reminded her. "I explained it to them real nice and told them that we appreciated their concern for your mental clarity. I didn't even voodoo doll them or anything." She tapped on the marble surface to get Misty's attention, "You don't need to worry about any dumb shit people say either. I got your back and so does Zoe. Meg's a dumbass who's drunk most of the time, but she likes you."

"I normally don't care much about what people say, but I don't want anyone thinkin' I'd do anything wrong to Delia is all." She pushed her plate away and got up, "I need to put all the leftovers away."

"Misty," Queenie said. "I'll take care of it. I'll put all these plates and shit in the dishwasher and everything."

"Thanks, Miss Queenie," she mumbled and skulked out into the dark foyer without another word. Her blue shawl had been draped around her elbows and she pulled it up over her shoulders then tight around her as she made her way up the stairs. Misty still had nightmares almost every night and continued to sleep in Cordelia's room. She wondered what sort of things girls in the house were whispering about the Supreme because of it. Cordelia's quarters were at the far side of the west wing and on the top floor, out of the way, but secrets can't be kept in a house full of witches.

Misty liked sharing the big, soft bed with Miss Delia. She liked having someone close to her in any sort of way. Cordelia consoled her without complaint whenever she woke up crying, screaming or whatever else. Usually the nightmares were about that repetitive, awful scene from the netherworld and once in a while she'd also flash back to when she was entombed in the coffin by Madison. The dreams had become fewer and not so awful. Misty thought that her best friend, Delia, would soon be giving her a different place to stay. 

"If I'm intrudin' on your personal space, I can go out and start stayin' in the greenhouse," Misty offered when Delia entered. She was thinking Cordelia was simply too nice to tell her she'd over-extended her welcome.

Cordelia went into the bathroom and emerged holding her toothbrush, looking a little taken aback, "Is that what you want to do?"

"Well, I don't like bein' alone, but I'd be ok. I was alone for a long time and I don't wanna bother you. You've been too nice to me, and if it's causin' problems...if I'm underminin' your authority or somethin' then I-"

"You've never bothered me, and on that note," she shook her toothbrush at her. "You can stop keeping your things in a damn box. Put your stuff in the closet or in a dresser or something. I thought you would've done it by now."

"Oh..." She sat on the edge of the bed as Cordelia ducked back into the bathroom. After a few seconds, she asked apprehensively, "So we're gonna be like roommates? What if you, like, get yourself a boyfr-"

"Misty!" she said loudly from the bathroom, yelling over the running water and cutting her off again. "Get your shit out of the box and redecorate the whole room if you want."

"Are you movin' out?"

Cordelia laughed loudly, sort of mockingly, and came out with her arms crossed, "Stop acting stupid. You're not stupid."

Misty looked at her innocently, almost like a deer in headlights. Cordelia waited. She blinked and forced a little smile after a moment, "I don't wanna make a fool of myself, Delia."

She crossed the room and put her hands on each side of Misty's face. "I don't want to make a fool of myself either."

Misty moved her hands from her lap up to Cordelia's wrists, "I wasn't ever very good at figurin' out people. I don't ever seem to get anything right with 'em and I don't wanna ruin our friendship by sayin' somethin' stupid right now. I don't think you mean what I'm thinkin' you mean because you're this...fancy lady and the Supreme, and I'm just...me. I'm a dumb swamp rat that hasn't ever fit in anywhere. Nobody has ever wanted me around and everybody always leaves me and doesn't come back..."

"The only dumb thing you've ever said was that just now." Cordelia bent down so that their faces were on the same level, "I married a witch hunter, stabbed out my own eyes, and thought I was the last person on Earth that could possibly be the Supreme, and whole list of other fuck ups. I read a bunch of romance novels, so I'm trying really hard not to say some stupid line from one of them right now. Get your stuff out of that box, move some plants in here, put dreamcatchers on the walls, I don't care, but just stay. Unless you don't want to then I'll make you a place in the greenhouse."

Misty said nothing and pulled Cordelia's hands from her cheeks. She stood up and picked up the box containing her few possessions. She'd even gone to her shack to salvage what she could and it still all fit in the box.

"Misty..." Cordelia said sadly. "If I just made you uncomfortable...I know you grew up totally religious and I realize-"

"Stop talkin'. The church folk also tied me up and set me on fire, remember?" she said and flipped the box over, dumping skirts, shirts, shawls, and some hats onto the floor. "I'll find a place to put my things in the mornin'."

~~~

 _And it all comes down to you._  
 _Well, you know that it does._  
"Gypsy" - Fleetwood Mac


	19. Chapter 19

Beth and Misty hit it off right away once Beth bothered to stop kissing Cordelia's ass. Neither of them had a very good time in school and they also had an affinity for potions. Misty didn't mind her shrill voice and didn't mind when she got pompous either. What Misty didn't understand was her doll collection. She didn't see a point in accumulating things that you couldn't really do anything with. They amicably agreed not to talk about it and then Misty convinced Beth to twirl with her in the greenhouse - an event Cordelia found exceptionally amusing.

In the greenhouse one evening after Beth called it a night, Fleetwood Mac played in the background and Misty said, "Hey Delia, if I do some rearrangin' in here can I grow some vegetables? Normal old vegetables. Not for makin' magic, unless you consider a nice Cajun vegetable gumbo to be magic."

Cordelia looked up from the book she was reading at a nearby workbench, "Just keep the plants with similar sunlight and water needs together, and I've tasted your cooking. I'd have to say it's pretty magical."

Misty's eyes lit up, "Can I grow some vegetables out back of the house too? I think I can make some pumpkins happen in time for Halloween. Maybe some flowers to add some color to the front and out by the gate so this haunted house looks less haunted?"

"I can hire a gardener for that. You don't need to do it."

"No, let me do it."

Cordelia closed the book and said, "Fine. Do you also want to make birdhouses for all of the trees, hang bird-feeders, and put out some seed or anything like that too while you're at it?"

"That's a good idea, Delia! I know there's a few girls that would like to help. Can we? Please?"

She hung her head, feigning exasperation, "Go ahead. Just give me a list of what you need."

Then Misty flitted around the workbench and surprised Cordelia with a sudden, very tight hug around her shoulders from behind. She asked, "Can I get some chickens so we can have fresh eggs from happy chickens and maybe get some bees? I promise to take care of everything and-"

"Whoa. Whoa. Let me reign you in." She reached up and peeled Misty's arms off of her then turned around in her chair. She took Misty's hands and laced their fingers all together. "There are all sorts of city regulations. Let me check on them first. There's no need for us to piss off the neighbors more or violate any sort of city codes. Cool?"

Misty nodded, biting on her bottom lip. She pulled Delia to her feet and moved her hands so they draped loosely around her neck. Her rings and bracelets casually caressed her skin. She stood several inches taller than the older blonde, but she leaned in close and whispered, "Thank you."

"For what? Letting you garden and telling you that you be the Academy's landscaper?" she let out a breathy laugh before wrapping her arms tightly around Misty's waist, pressing their bodies together.

"For everythin'."

"I should be the one thanking you. If it weren't for your I'd probably still be blind and wouldn't know I was the Supreme. You reminded me this was a school and that I-"

"Just accept my thank you and quit fishin' for compliments," Misty said in her ear.

~~~

Kyle and Misty sat across from one another in the kitchen early one morning the following spring. Misty had made blueberry pancakes and they were both enjoying them. She had a big bowl of batter waiting next to the stove for when the two non-witch cooks arrived. She'd also started a pot of coffee and had water boiling on the stove for tea. She felt a bit guilty for sleeping in until mid-afternoon the previous day. It had been rainy all morning and the birds hadn't woken her up. Neither had Cordelia.

"Misty," Kyle said breaking the quiet. The only sounds were those of their utensils clinking on their plates and, of course, the voice of Stevie Nicks playing from the CD player. 

"Hm?" she responded, not looking up from her plate.

"When you were taking care of me you said you were looking for your tribe..."

"You remember all that talkin' I did? I didn't think you were listenin'. It was hard to tell with you though."

"I listened."

"You wanna know if I found my tribe yet?" she asked and he nodded. She forked a piece of pancake, looked at it for a moment then went on, "I know I told 'em at first that this wasn't it, but it's all different now. There's still some darkness here, but the dark ain't all bad. So I guess what I'm sayin' is...well, yeah."

"I'm glad," he said earnestly. "Do you think you're more powerful, reaching your full potential? You also said something about that."

She thought about it for several moments, moving her pancakes around. "Bein' around Miss Delia always made me feel like I could do anythin'. She was Supreme all along though, so I was thinkin'...oh, I dunno. Maybe I'm manifestin' some new powers. My powers ain't like everyone else's though."

"So?"

"I don't like bein' different."

"Fuck 'em," he said bluntly and this made her smile. He followed it with, "I'm also sorry I broke your radio."

"That's ok, Kyle. It was a long time ago. You couldn't help it and I was upset. You were the only friend I had...you and my music." She looked across at his plate, "Do you need more honey?"

He nodded and she pushed the container across to him. Then he said, "Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure."

He took his time with his words and finally asked, "When you died, what was it like?"

"Which time?" she laughed a little.

"Were they different?"

Misty shook her head. "No. All the same. Unless you count the Descensum trial - that time was different. The other two times were the same though. All the hurtin' stopped and there was this warm sorta glow."

"It wasn't cold and dark?"

She looked confused, "Uh uh. Was it like that when you died?"

"Yeah, that was what Madison said too, and Zoe. A lonely...nothingness."

"Oh," she paused. "I dunno. I didn't mind it. Things were only cold and dark after I came back to life. The first time I woke up underwater in the swamp and the second time I was in the graveyard in that casket..."

"What're you two talking about in here?" Cordelia asked cheerfully as she came in and poured herself a cup of coffee. She leaned her back onto the counter and looked at them as she sipped.

"We were talkin' about dyin'..." Misty told her.

"That's grim for this hour."

Misty turned around on the stool and forced a smile, "Yeah. You want some pancakes, Delia? I made plenty of batter."

"No, I've got to get downtown to do a million boring things so I can finally close the deal on the house next door. I'll be back in time for lunch though if you want."

"I'm workin' on somethin' in the greenhouse. Just get lunch while you're out."

The Supreme shrugged at Misty's decline. Kyle got up and put on his jacket, so he could start his morning routine. They bade him a quick farewell and he thanked Misty for the pancakes.

~~~  

That day turned out to be the first particularly sunny and warm day. Cordelia wrapped up her errands and returned to Miss Robichaux's. The front lawn looked completely different. Flowers and ornamental grasses sat in front of the foundation of the old house and around the entrance. In years past the house had looked neglected and at times even abandoned, but Misty's careful selection of flowers and uncanny knack to make them all grow exceptionally well, that was all turned around. Even the grass was greener. The Headmistress admired how nice the place looked as she entered. She had a History of Witches lecture to conduct, so she couldn't linger too long. About halfway through the class she heard riotous giggling coming from the back lawn though. Her curiosity got the best of her, so she excused herself. Stepping out onto the back porch where she looked out over the grounds.

Not quite sure what she was seeing, she used her hand as a visor and squinted into the light. All of the Academy's youngest girls were taking advantage of the day and having their recess out back. They seemed to be having an extremely merry time. She approached the rail and rested her elbows on it, shaking her head and leaning forward. 

"It looks like even you think it's amazing, Headmistress," a young woman said to her from the nearby swing. She was one of the regular teachers Cordelia had hired for the young ones and she was keeping an eye on her little troupe. "I honestly thought working here would be all killing chickens, pacts with Satan, and eating rats...things like that."

Cordelia hadn't even realized she was there. She turned slowly toward her and shook her head again, "I just...she's..." She nodded her head back out toward the lawn, "I didn't know she could do all that. I knew she was powerful, but I didn't realize..."

"I don't think she realized it either. She made all of those flowers grow and bloom just a minute ago and she was as surprised as the girls," Ms. Robinson agreed. She added, "The girls love her. She's been bringing all sorts of arts and crafts projects for us all to do since it's been raining the last few days."

"My God, I love her too," Cordelia confessed abruptly and turned away from her back toward Misty and her sprite-like entourage.

Misty sat cross-legged out in the middle of the lawn, but it wasn't so much a lawn anymore. Instead it was an unbelievable rainbow of flowers. She was surrounded by these girls and wildflowers of every color. The wildflowers were springing up and blooming before their very eyes. Just the slightest motion from Misty was causing the wave of color to race toward the house as well as the trees in the back. It wasn't just flowers either, there were butterflies congregating all around them. Some of the girls were skipping around chasing them, while a few others sat on the ground next to Misty being very still and letting them land on their arms, squealing with excitement. Misty herself was focused on weaving together some flowers in her lap. Another girl was laughing and putting flowers in Misty's hair as she worked.

"Miss Delia," Misty said as soon as she looked up and noticed her. "Come here."

"I can't. I'm in the middle of teaching a class," she said with a smile.

"Girls, tell Headmistress Cordelia that she should come here. Just for one minute." She put up her index finger, "Just one."

They failed at coordinating their persuasive tactic, but they did manage to all yell, "Headmistress Cordelia!"

"Alright. Alright," she said. She started to walk down the steps, but then she couldn't bear to depress even the tiniest of flowers in the array with her heels. She let out another of her obviously-fake, exasperated sighs and transmutated. The girls squealed after witnessing her feat.

"I made you something," Misty said with one of her extra-big, childish grins. "Bend down. I can't stand up because Miss Mariah here is fixin' my hair."

Cordelia gave in and bent down onto her haunches. She let the young woman put the flower crown onto her head and the girls cheered. Misty took a moment to arrange some locks of her hair and position the flowers until they looked right to her. Then she said as sternly as she could manage, "Now get back to your class. I don't wanna interfere too much with anybody's education."

The Supreme couldn't seem to bring herself to say anything. She'd never seen anything quite like what was happening. She transmuted again, eliciting another cheer and some laughter from Ms. Robinson. She tried to keep a straight face as she walked back into class, flower crown and all. Her class looked at her oddly when she re-entered and she stood quietly at the front of the room, looking down at the papers spread out over the desk. She looked over her notes, tapped on one of the textbooks and then she finally said, "Everyone stand up. We're going out back for a minute."

Murmurs of confusion as well as awe occurred the moment they all stepped outside. Misty waved and a couple of the girls sitting with her followed her lead and did the same. She had begun making another crown and a couple of little birds had joined the foray, hopping around her.

"Miss Queenie," called Misty. "Pick a color and watch what I can do."

"Purple," she called out.

The transformation started close to her and radiated out. Every flower, large and small, turned a bright shade of violet until the entire back lawn was a mass of the color Queenie requested. It became a huge purple sea populated by Misty Day, a group of second-graders, some butterflies and a few birds.

"Pink now! Pink!" one of the girls demanded and the flowers all changed to various shades of pink, creating a dramatic show of color.

"Hot damn," Queenie said quietly. Aware of the small children present, she quickly put her hand over her mouth.

"Ladies," Cordelia got their attention. "Some of you are probably thinking, 'Oh, it's just a bunch of flowers.' I know a number of you have powers that have caused you to accidentally hurt people or that some of you have intentionally used to hurt people. Witches throughout the centuries have been characterized by our darker abilities, but those aren't our only powers. We all have the potential to help people, to make pretty things, and just...look at all these flowers." She paused, "Also take just a moment to remember that Misty was burned alive by her own family, by people she grew up with, because she was different, and...and..." her voice faltered, really ruining the momentum of her monologue. "Class dismissed. Be done for the day. Do something nice, go out, see a movie, whatever. Be back by nine." She threw her hands in the air and gave up.

Everyone began to disperse. Queenie clapped and said, "Great speech, boss."

"Get out of here, Queenie."

"Nah, I'm going to go lay in some...darn...flowers," she transmuted from the porch and flopped down on her back. She spread out her arms as if preparing to make a snow angel, but instead she just lay there, eyes closed and grinning.

"Kyle!" Cordelia shouted, seeing his goofy face in one of the windows. "Take the afternoon off and go find your girlfriend!" She then turned to Ms. Robinaon. She was still smiling contentedly in the swing, "And you can head home too. I'll watch your girls."

"No, I'm ok," she said.

"Full pay for today. It'll be like you didn't even-"

"No, no. You misunderstood. I want to stay."

She tossed her arms in the air again. A few of the girls from her class grabbed seats on the porch with novels or with homework. She knew that a few others had grouped up and they were already heading down the sidewalk. She relayed a brief telepathic message, releasing all of the students from their normal classes and freeing teachers to head home early. She felt a little nostalgic and thought that Nan would surely have appreciated the floral display. Myrtle too. Fiona probably would have scoffed, but been secretly impressed by the astounding simplicity of all of it. Madison likely would have lit up a cigarette and glared. Cordelia laughed to herself.

Kyle and Zoe came outside hand-in-hand a moment later. Zoe promptly stated, "Flowers."

"Butterflies," said Kyle as a small yellow one fluttered up and landed on his shoulder.

"It was supposed to rain again today," Zoe said, looking up at the sky. It was bright blue without a cloud in sight.

~~~

That night, small flames flickered in a few of the sconces and Misty lay with Cordelia's arm stretched out behind her neck. Misty's arms were folded loosely over her stomach and they both looked up at the candlelight dancing on the ceiling. 

"Tell me about that whole death talk you were having with Kyle."

"I think you're doin' pillow talk wrong, Delia. Allison's been takin' me to the movies and-"

"Oh, come on. Just tell me."

She took a deep breath and sounded ashamed, "My dyin' wasn't like everyone else's."

Delia turned, "Huh?"

"It wasn't all cold and dark. Everyone else went to some nothing place."

"What was it then?"

Misty turned her head, "It was...nice. It was warm and happy and bright. It was pretty, but real hard to describe and I'm not so good with words as it is. Kyle said he was lonely, but I wasn't lonely at all. I felt ok. I woulda happily stayed there if the swamp hadn't brought me back and if you and Queenie hadn't."

Cordelia made a pensive noise then cupped Misty's jaw with her hand. 

Misty nuzzled into her palm then rolled over and put one of her arms around Cordelia's stomach. "Why do you think my dyin' was different."

She hugged her close and kissed her forehead. She had an idea. It wasn't something she thought was possible. She knew about the dark nothingness and about the netherworld. She knew about souls being trapped like the Axeman's and Spalding's. "I'm not sure," she said. Her brow furrowed and she asked, "Did you have something to do with the weather today?"

 ~~~

 _If I live to see the Seven Wonders  
_ _I'll make a path to the rainbow's end._  
"Seven Wonders" - Fleetwood Mac

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy endings all around! I hope I didn't make things unbearably corny these last couple of chapters. A seemingly endless number of really cheesy ideas kept coming to me, but I had to end this at some point. XOXOX


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